Question

Juan is the oldest son of Mexican parents who immigrated to the United States less than five years ago. Juan's high shcool teachers perceive him to be fairly intelligent, but his SAT scores are low, and he is having trounle getting into college. Juan's mother angrily claims that "intelligence tests are biased against Hispanics." Juan's father sadly counters, "It's not the tests that are biased; it's American education that is biased."
a) Carefully explain why you would agree or disagree with the comments amde by each parent?

Answer 1

Explanation:

I agree with the Mothers comments considering the following:

1. The Intelligence test may have tested in a language he understands very little: Note we are told he is from Mexico where the official language spoken is Spanish, so he may have performed better if the test were in Spanish.

2. Most immigrant Hispanic parents work more hours trying to cater for their families, thus since Juan is the firstborn he may have to cater for the needs of his younger siblings with little study time.

I agree with the Father's comment because the American educational system is more likely different from the one in Mexico, as such Juan may yet have become accustomed to it, thus the American educational system doesn't do enough to allow immigrants adapt to the new educational system.