{"product_id":"the-big-test-the-secret-history-of-the-american-meritocracy-paperback","title":"The Big Test: The Secret History of the American Meritocracy - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eNicholas Lemann\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe widely acclaimed study of what's gone wrong in American higher education.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhat do we know about the history, origin, design, and purpose of the SAT? Who invented it, and why? How did it acquire such a prominent and lasting position in American education? \u003ci\u003eThe Big Test\u003c\/i\u003e reveals the ideas, people, and politics behind a fifty-year-old utopian social experiment that changed this country. Combining vibrant storytelling, vivid portraiture, and thematic analysis, Lemann shows why this experiment did not turn out as planned. It did create a new elite, but it also generated conflict and tension--and America's best educated, most privileged people are now leaders without followers. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDrawing on unprecedented access to the Educational Testing Service's archives, Lemann maintains that America's meritocracy is neither natural nor inevitable, and that it does not apportion opportunity equally or fairly. His important study not only asks profound moral and political questions about the past and future of our society but also carries implications for current social and educational policy. As Brent Staples noted in his \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003eeditorial column: \"Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts announced that prospective students would no longer be required to submit SAT scores with their applications. . . . Holyoke's president, Joanne Creighton, was personally convinced by reading Nicholas Lemann's book, \u003ci\u003eThe Big Test, \u003c\/i\u003ewhich documents how the SAT became a tool for class segregation.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAll students of education, sociology, and recent U.S. history--especially those focused on testing, theories of learning, social stratification, or policymaking--will find this book fascinating and alarming.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBorn in New Orleans in 1954, \u003cb\u003eNicholas Lemann\u003c\/b\u003e has been a journalist for more than twenty years. His last book was the prizewinning \u003ci\u003eThe Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Pelham, New York.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 416\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.1 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e November 16, 2000\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45336677679206,"sku":"9780374527518","price":38.2,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0599\/7255\/0758\/files\/cTlBMHhncUxyTTNrN0JIYXJUa2VJdz09.webp?v=1774615802","url":"https:\/\/infinitylightwa.com\/products\/the-big-test-the-secret-history-of-the-american-meritocracy-paperback","provider":"Infinity Light","version":"1.0","type":"link"}