"Yes, test scores (mostly math scores, actually) do seem to predict adult economic success independent of family background, partly because they predict how much schooling people get..."
And:
" This is from the the first volume of the OECD's latest PISA report:
"Levels of reading literacy are more reliable predictors of economic and social well-being than is the quantity of education as measured by years at school or in post-school education.""
I think the missing variable is precisely family background, which from most of the stuff I've seen and teach says that the amount of time parents spend with their kids reading and teaching them leads to both school and economic success. So I fail to see how it is independent of family location.
@ Woj:
I understand and agree with the critique of multiple choice test. However, how the hell else am I and others supposed to test 180 students? The problems has a lot to do with diminishing resources and the neoliberalization of the schooling system, me thinks.
I actually got in some trouble last semester for the poor marks my students were getting when I tried to assess them in a manner that required them to have actually read and understood the material. Apparently the success rate of students is more important to the Dean than the actual quality of education (duh!). Also, the students ability to threaten the Dean through their wealthy parents who threatened to revoke their $40,000 a year tuition.
It's interesting I am currently teaching at a upper-mid level university (if you believe in such rankings) and a community college. I must say the CC folks are much better at working hard and engaging with the material, while the other students know how the system works and how to work it.
Brad