Most of the analysis of the college admissions scandal that was revealed last week has assumed that “merit” is, in a sense, the culprit—the concept that holds up a rotten system of privilege, hypocrisy, and, apparently, outright illegality. For several decades now, critiques of the idea of “meritocracy” surface whenever there is a discussion of education’s social function as a sorting system, usually because of some scandal involving standardized testing or college admissions procedures. These conversations about the validity of education-as-sorting are important, if a bit repetitive. Critics doubt whether educational institutions actually can determine something as vague as “merit,” Read more