SAT Prompt About Reality TV Angers Students

When prepping for the SAT, don't forget to review grammar, vocab and ... Jersey Shore?

A question on one recent version of the SAT asked students to assess the social impact of reality television -- to the horror of test-takers who aren't familiar with the pop culture phenomenon.

According to the New York Times, students expressed dismay at the question through online discussion forums like College Confidential. In a thread discussing the prompt, one student wrote, "this is one of those moments when I wish I actually watched T.V."

Another student told the New York Daily News that she had been preparing for questions of a higher caliber. "A lot of what we did in SAT prep classes was to use historical events or literature in our essays," she said. "I guess the kids who watch crap T.V. did well."

The Washington Post reports that offended students complained that the question unfairly assumed that all test-takers have a television, watch reality shows and can tell such programs apart -- putting students who don't fit these assumptions at a disadvantage.

But officials from the College Board say that the question was fair, and that any student could answer it regardless of T.V.-watching habits. College Board official Laurence Bunin told the Post that the question had been selected in an attempt to relate to and engage students, and that it had garnered favorable responses in pre-tests.

According to the Daily News, however, only one-third of test-takers got the question.

Below, check out the full text of the prompt.

Reality television programs, which feature real people engaged in real activities rather than professional actors performing scripted scenes, are increasingly popular. These shows depict ordinary people competing in everything from singing and dancing to losing weight, or just living their everyday lives. Most people believe that the reality these shows portray is authentic, but they are being misled. How authentic can these shows be when producers design challenges for the participants and then editors alter filmed scenes?

Do people benefit from forms of entertainment that show so-called reality, or are such forms of entertainment harmful?

What do you think of this question? Fair or unfair? Let us know in the comments section.

Comments

[Alexis Avila]

08:55 AM on 04/08/2011

While the reality tv SAT essay topic may appear at first glance biased only to those who habitually watch reality television, it is still a broad enough topic where virtually any high school can properly answer the question.

Here is my take on it as well via video blog:
http://preppedandpolished.com/reality-television-sat-essay-topic-good-or-bad/

Alexis Avila, Founder of Prepped & Polished, LLC

[Ranaldo]

12:54 PM on 03/29/2011

GIGO. Garbage In. Garbage Out.

[Amy Fleischer]

04:39 AM on 03/29/2011

Well, what do you expect when Repubs. wanna cut education spending?

Including anything related to "reality" television is outright stupid and a waste of everyone's well-spent time and money.

This is why it's no surprise America is 17th in education ranking.

[TracerBullet23]

05:48 PM on 03/28/2011

Why are people angry about this, I think its kinda cool that SAT writers are writing more realistic questions.

[gneep]

02:00 PM on 03/28/2011

This should be condemned with raised voices! A question about TV?? Give me a huge break. Here I have another. What impact did the Lucy show have on the innocent minds of children. What was the ultimate message of Lucy?

[Yuxuibbs]

09:03 PM on 03/20/2011

im in high school and i don't really watch tv (only NCIS, criminal minds, and the simpsons when I have time), don't like justin beiber, and basically don't like everything popular in high school.
in the time it took for me to read the question, i already came up with lots of examples and arguments but if they're going to put questions about things most people do or like, what about the small group of students that don't even have a tv or never watch it?

[Kristen Goode]

02:24 PM on 03/19/2011

As a student who took this SAT, this question was a good one. The question is about the effect that Reality TV has on people (not is it good) and as a "sheltered" kid who NEVER watches TV, I still knew enough to effectively answer the question thanks to High School.

Besides, in college you have to write things like this. If you can't write about anything on the fly... good luck

[sLegal]

09:56 AM on 03/19/2011

SAT is meaningless... what matters is how much money your parents have

[MPW]

10:53 PM on 03/18/2011

Stupid and irrelevant question to assess someone's academic potential. The idea that you should make the SAT questions relatable and engaging to students is idiotic - the SATs are designed to test someone's ability to study and respond to the things they'll be studying in college, not to ask a B.S. sociology question. And who cares that it got "favorable responses?" You don't give people a test so that they enjoy themselves. I'm sure the favorable responses came from students who didn't study for the test because they were watching reality shows!

[whomod]

04:09 PM on 03/18/2011

Why is Jersey Shore being singled out?

According to this story the question asked was to assess the social impact of reality television.

That doesn't mean you had to have watched 'Jersey Shore'. It's asking basically, are you aware of the culture that you live in and the impact that lowest common denominator popular culture (such as Jerry Springer, Maury, Oprah, Survivor et al.) has on society?

What it speaks to is wanting students who are actually aware and engaged in this society. Not simply people with advantage who are part of some caste system, completely removed from the concerns of the rest of the United States and who will go on to professional jobs and seclude themselves in gated communities and in their own interests and not once consider the lower castes.

This is The United States and we should do all we can to encourage unity and thinking of ourselves as one people, one larger culture. Not simply add to this growing sentiment of professionals being the haves who get catered to with actual culture and everyone else being the have lesses, concerned with their low pursuits such as reality TV and cage match wrestling.

[MPW]

10:59 PM on 03/18/2011

This isn't a question on a sociology exam, it's an entrance exam for college. It doesn't test any of the skills that they will need to be a successful student at a college level, and in fact encourages the opposite: speculation and assumption. The students have no data to support any answer that they might give, making it completely useless. The question belongs on a list of research topics in a soc. class, not on the SATs.

[amberbs84]

01:13 AM on 03/19/2011

as a sociologist (what's you hatred towards sociology about anyway?) college entrance exams, regardless of this question, do a poor job of predicting college success. Also, I believe the purpose of the essay section is to prove you can develop an argument, not regurgetate facts

[southingtonian]

05:48 AM on 03/19/2011

Since the question defines reality tv, and gives general examples, the question is intended to give a framework for testing the ability of the student to compose a clearly worded opinion with proper sentence and paragraph construction; a logical progression of ideas clearly presented. In other words, it would test the student's command of the language, content aside.

[ninzilla]

03:38 PM on 03/18/2011

LOL .... We're doomed.

[TookieWords]

03:33 PM on 03/18/2011

IDIOCRACY

[TookieWords]

03:31 PM on 03/18/2011

is this an unfair or fair question? It is a stupid question.

[skyloaf]

03:21 PM on 03/18/2011

As usual the media have misrepresented a story to get our attention. All the headlines/leads I've seen suggest Jersey Shore is literally in the question, while in reality (the real one) it is a thought-provoking question that could be pondered without ever viewing such programming.

[whomod]

04:20 PM on 03/18/2011

Exactly.

I just commented on the same thing.

This 'reality television' category can be everything from Maury, to Family Feud to Entertainment Tonight. I just think this 'jersey shore' hook is to make the question seem foolish by using a widely reviled show (and personality, Snookie) rather than be thought of as something that challenges students to think of the society around them and what their impact as professionals will ultimately be to this society.

[alisonv]

08:45 PM on 03/18/2011

Thank you for saying this. I was just about to say the same thing.