Do You Know What Bronx Kids Know?

By students from Bronx Leadership Academy 2, BLA2 teachers Shannon O’Grady and Kristin Ferrales, and Kathleen Cushman

May 2008 — Paperback — 80 pages — ISBN: 0-9815595-0-6 — $9.95 (USD)

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TEST ALERT!

Take the hot new test on the complex problems facing urban youth . . .

• Study the vocabulary
• Read the passages
• Answer the questions
• See how well you score!

Fourteen Bronx public high school students turn the tables on high-stakes testers in SAT Bronx, uncovering the strengths and skills that urban youth call on every day.

Can you decode the lingo of the streets? Account for how public transit fares treat some riders better than others? Get out of a fight without making yourself a target? Stay true to your culture and your national identity? Figure out the reality behind a military recruiter’s pitch? Get yourself the education you deserve?

SAT Bronx asks readers to pay close attention to the words and experiences of urban youth—then to analyze the implications of the solutions they choose. Answering its multiple-choice questions, test-takers must consider important issues of multiculturalism and equity, knowledge and skills, and the assumptions that underlie our thinking about what urban youth know and can do.

Discussion questions for both youth and adults follow each section.

Click here to download a PDF version.

Early praise from SAT Bronx test takers:

“This test combines two codes and cultural lingos—that of urban youth and that of the test-making establishment. It helps adults understand the codeswitching necessary to take standardized tests. They may not easily comprehend certain passages by students in SAT Bronx, yet they must answer questions about them.”

“It reminded me that similar values could lead to different actions and similar actions could come from different values.”

“SAT Bronx provides adults with a different entry point for conversations about equity. It reminds us that urban youth can conduct sharp analysis of complex factors and situations that are not cut-and-dried.”