Revising SAT Questions

Your editorial of Aug. 26 describes the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) revision as a potential boon to minority students. If the SAT is biased, every attempt should be made to revise it to eliminate that bias. Your editorial, however, appears to assume that lower test results translate directly into discrimination. There are other possibilities.

Equally plausible is the possibility that lower scores accurately reflect achievement--that minority youngsters are really not gaining as much from our educational institutions--that they are failing to learn! When youngsters fail to learn, the fault may be in the schools. It may be in the homes that do not value and support academic efforts. It may be in the students themselves--youngsters who seldom complete assignments, who fail to channel energy into learning.

Broadening the content of the SAT is likely to improve its ability to measure verbal and mathematics skills. These revisions, however, are yet unproven. Scoring may not only prove difficult and costly, it is likely to introduce a new set of biases as evaluators sort through problems in handwriting, language mechanics and usage.

We cannot assume that modifying test content will be a panacea for our complex educational problems.

REBECCA ANN PENSO

Los Angeles