Volvo effect

In this, he proposes that schools could estimate student performance on certain styles of standardized tests simply by counting the number of Volvos or comparably expensive cars owned by a student's family.

[1][2] The original text in which the Volvo effect was advanced said: Although standardized tests have a relatively bleak record of predicting success in school and work, we know that they do tend to correlate exceedingly well with the income and education of one's parents.

The data is so strong in this regard that one could make a good guess about a child's standardized test scores by simply looking at how many degrees her parents have and what kind of car they drive.

[3]Sacks criticized the SAT in particular, for showing a demonstrable difference in the scores achieved by high-income and low-income students.

[4] At the time, a typical low-income American student with a family income of $20,000 per year (about $35,000 now) would score about 100 to 350 points less[a] than a typical high-income student with a family income of $90,000 per year (about $159,000 now).