Each year millions of high school junior and seniors across the country, armed with standard issue No. 2 pencils and in various states of battle-readiness, face one of life’s most gut-wrenching rites of passage: the SAT. Award-winning journalist David Owen first exposed the often biased, unscientific, and secretive manufacturing, grading, and distribution of this much-dreaded test by its creator, the Educational Testing Service (ETS), in 1985’s widely acclaimed None of the Above: Behind the Myth of Scholastic Aptitude. Part devastating expose, part savvy test guide, this bestselling book demystified the development of the SAT and offered many practical strategies on how to beat the test. Now, fifteen years later, Owen’s book, completely revised and updated by educator Marilyn Doerr and with a new preface by the author, is more relevant than ever for students, their parents, and those who believe in the importance of educational opportunity for all. Praise for the First Edition: Owen’s intelligent, peppery style makes the confusing jargon of statistics and educational theory understandable, something ETS has striven hard to avoid.—Stevenson Swanson, Chicago Tribune This book should be read--with guffaws--by any educator who ever cringed before an SAT score.—Virginia Robinson, Education Times The reader will appreciate this book, among other reasons, for the excellent advice it offers on beating the tests.—Publishers Weekly An angry book (though often a very funny one), and with good reason: the SAT is a scam. —Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
None of the Above is the best book ever written about the SAT. It's well-researched, accurate, and appropriately scathing. At the same time, though, it's funny, well-written, and a very easy read. Every student, parent, and admissions professional should read it before discussing college admissions. (John Katzman )
None of the Above is the best book ever written about the SAT. It's well-researched, accurate, and appropriately scathing. At the same time, though, it's funny, well-written, and a very easy read. Every student, parent, and admissions professional should read it before discussing college admissions. (John Katzman )
America's story in the years since this book appeared is largely the story of an upper tier of Americans whose opportunities and tribulations are separating from those of the average citizen. The SATs remain an important part of the support structure for that tier. David Owen's description of them is as wickedly funny as it was in 1985, and even more important. (Jim Fallows U.S. News and World Report )
It may take even longer for corporate test manufactures to meet their comeuppance than it takes for cigarette and handgun manufacturers to meet theirs. But when it happens, we will thank the authors for this update of our outrage." (Jeannie Oakes )
The book is immensely readable. Recommended at all levels. (Choice )
None of the Above is the best book ever written about the SAT. It's well-researched, accurate, and appropriately scathing. At the same time, though, it's funny, well-written, and a very easy read. Every student, parent, and admissions professional should read it before discussing college admissions. (John Katzman )
America's story in the years since this book appeared is largely the story of an upper tier of Americans whose opportunities and tribulations are separating from those of the average citizen. The SATs remain an important part of the support structure for that tier. David Owen's description of them is as wickedly funny as it was in 1985, and even more important. (Jim Fallows U.S. News and World Report )
It may take even longer for corporate test manufactures to meet their comeuppance than it takes for cigarette and handgun manufacturers to meet theirs. But when it happens, we will thank the authors for this update of our outrage." (Jeannie Oakes )
The book is immensely readable. Recommended at all levels. (Choice )
About the Author
David Owen is an award-winning journalist and a staff writer for the New Yorker. He lives in Washington, CT. Marilyn Doerr teaches science and math at the University School in Cleveland, Ohio. She lives in Novelty, Ohio.
David Owen is an award-winning journalist and a staff writer for the New Yorker. He lives in Washington, CT.
Marilyn Doerr teaches science and math at the University School in Cleveland, Ohio. She lives in Novelty, Ohio.
David Owen is an award-winning journalist and a staff writer for the New Yorker. He lives in Washington, CT.
Marilyn Doerr teaches science and math at the University School in Cleveland, Ohio. She lives in Novelty, Ohio.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
get into the minds of the people who write the tests...,
By A Customer
This review is from: None of the Above, Revised: The Truth Behind the SATs (Culture and Education Series) (Paperback)
I read this book when I was in 8th grade, before taking the PSAT or SAT or any achievement tests -- it helped me so much, because it gave me a framework to understand what the tests are actually designed to measure (*not* scholastic aptitude as such)... when it came time to take the tests, I already knew that I was being tested on my ability to read the testwriters' minds and figure out how they were trying to trick us! Knowing that saved a lot of heartache, and also made it easier to answer the test questions and improved my scores.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
highly recommended,
By Chris Carter (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
This review is from: None of the Above, Revised: The Truth Behind the SATs (Culture and Education Series) (Paperback)
This book blows the cover of respectability and objectivity that has benefited ETS for decades. It exposes the company for what it is: a deceptive, revenue-hungry, socially-irresponsible organization. ETS calls itself a "non-profit institution" but this is shown to be a smokescreen. It is non-profit in the purely accounting sense in that it has no shareholders (it was founded by a grant by the Carnegie Foundation), but the company does everything it can to maximize revenue after costs. The employees pay themselves exorbiant salaries, and the campus includes tennis courts, riding paths, a golf course and a hotel! Also, the company does not even have an honest mailing address: all it has in Princeton is a mailbox! There is no relationship at all between ETS and Princeton University.David Owen's book actually goes much further, and explains how the tests themselves are deeply flawed. They are not measures of aptitude, but are in fact highly coachable (a fact ETS has tried to hide for years). This book is a must read for anyone interested in the truth behind ETS and standardized tests.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Outdated but still a classic,
By
This review is from: None of the Above, Revised: The Truth Behind the SATs (Culture and Education Series) (Paperback)
This is a 1999 revised edition of David Owen's classic 1985 expose of the SAT and other Educational Testing Services tests. The first edition was in turn based on a series of earlier magazine articles, dating back to the early 80s. The revisions are fairly minimal: the vast majority of the material is well over 20 years old (and even the revisions date back almost a decade.)
There have been some changes in the SAT since 1999. The biggest is that the Educational Testing Service lost the SAT contract (something which Owen & Doerr said was virtually impossible, because of the symbiotic relationship between the two organizations.) The SAT is now administered by Pearson NCS. (ETS still adminsters many other standardized tests, however.) Another big change is that the analogies questioned have been eliminated. The change which got so much publicity in 2005--- i.e., the addition of a third section with composition questions and an open-ended essay question--- was actually a relatively small one. The multiple choice portion of the composition test was merely an expanded version of the composition sections on the old Verbal test. Moreover, open-ended essay questions are nothing new: Owen even talks about how such questions are scored. (Basically, they are scored very quickly and superficially.) Even though the book is out of date in some ways, in others it is more timely than ever. Especially since the passing of the "No Child Left Behind" act, the standardized testing industry is more powerful than ever. (And it hasn't become much more competent--- or much less arrogant-- since Owen wrote his articles almost a quarter century ago.) In the 20th century, high-stakes testing was rare below the high school level. Students typically didn't encounter such tests until they took the PSAT and SAT in their junior year of high school. Now, however, standardized tests have been the central focus of the school year even for grade school students. This is an engagingly written work which explains some potentially arcane material in very clear terms. And the issues raised are still valid!
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