Nicholas Lemann: 'The Big Test: The Secret History of the American Meritocracy (original) (raw)

2000, American Studies in Scandinavia

Americans continually debate the meaning of equality of opportunity while losing little sleep over inequality of results. Education is presumed to accomplish the former and justify the latter, eliminating any need to redistribute wealth. In the mid-1800s, the crusade for 'common schools' embodied that struggle, followed by the establishment of public high schools later in the century. By the late Twentieth Century, colleges had become the focus of efforts to reconcile equality of opportunity and inequality of results. As a result, the validity of college admissions tests, although often an arcane academic concern, sometimes engender surprisingly public debate through

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