Interesting discussion in the comments. Here are some related thoughts:

I have come to understand that grading is just a tool to get students to actually engage with the material. And GPA or SAT scores have little to do with productivity or career success after school, based on my professional experience.

Tracking is wrong, but not because of equal rights. It’s wrong because it’s based on an archaic education and grading system and it is not in the best interest of a cohesive society.

Is there anyone who still thinks that schools look anything like the real world at this point? We aren’t educating obedient factory workers any more.

A strict pass-fail system would probably work just fine now, with mastery as the goal for a passing grade. Set the bar, and help everyone to achieve it in their own way.

If one doesn’t know enough to pass the college entrance exam, then they need to study some more to achieve mastery and then they will be ready for college. Make it pass/fail for college entrance.

College should probably be an extension of high school as some have suggested—-senior year of high school should probably be freshman year of college coursework since 12th grade in the US is a wasted year anyway—-and the goal should be to educate independent, life-long learners who can get along in society and survive, ie. make a living.

There is no magic to a 4-year degree. If one can master the material in 2 or 3 years, then great. Coursework should not be structured so that this can’t happen—-that’s a trick that universities like to play.

If one wants to call mastery “mediocrity” because most people are achieving it, then I’m okay with that.

This one really grinds my gears: College shouldn’t be like joining a country club—-and the days of “my college is better than yours” should come to an end already. The cost to society is too high. After 2 or 3 years out of school, people could care less where you went to school. And nobody cares whether you got an A or a C in your psychology class.

And another thing: It doesn’t cost $30-$50k a year to educate a student at the college level. That is an abstraction of the system, and a complete waste of money.

It’s important to consider that things are changing so rapidly, it is impossible to know what “jobs” will be in demand 5-10 years from now. Curricula and degree accreditation won’t keep up with the changes. Professional vocations are going to change even as the students are training for them. It’s happening now.

For example: Will Computer Science still be a necessary and valid degree program in 10 years? Maybe not. But logic, math, reading/writing, physics, problem solving, sociology, psychology, humanities, design, learning, research, statistics and probability, creativity, and other basic skills will surely still be useful.

I believe that of all the skills one could learn in school, agility and adaptation are probably the most important skills for the foreseeable future. We need to start teaching that.

In conclusion: Let the SAT score die, replace it with a pass/fail entrance exam, and let’s educate as many students as possible for the lowest cost possible and get to work building a better society.