The Educational Testing Service
has frowned upon DeShawn Stevenson's SAT jumping 500 points and is reviewing
it. His previous score was a 460, but in fairness he was a sophomore,
and it is conceivable that a young man could learn an enormous amount in two
years. However, DeShawn is saying that he scored 1,100, which would be an
even bigger jump.
Of interest: he took the SAT here in Raleigh, along with a few others, during
Sonny Vaccarro's Roundball Classic event, at Broughton High, if we remember
correctly. It would be interesting to see how the other candidates did as
well. Mrs. Stevenson says he didn't try hard the first time.
Sadly, DeShawn's mom also says that he's not dealing with things very well
right now. For a few days, she says, they didn't talk, and according to
the Bee article linked above, Stevenson was in tears when talking to friends
about all this.
More than anything, that underscores that this is a boy unprepared to take on
a man's responsibilities.
The ETS says that the test raises a flag, but to pursue it further they have to
hear from someone who has doubts about the validity of the results.
Their options:
- Cancel the score
- Retake it
- Let the school decide.
- Turn it over to arbitration.