Drop in SAT scores biggest in 31 years... Is our children learning?

[devilgrrl]

Drop in SAT scores biggest in 31 years

By JUSTIN POPE, AP Education Writer 1 hour, 23 minutes ago

The high school class of 2006 recorded the sharpest drop in SAT scores in 31 years, a decline that the exam's owner, the College Board, said was partly due to some students taking the newly lengthened test only once instead of twice.

Fatigue wasn't to blame, the College Board insisted, even though this year's class was the first to take a new version of the exam which added an essay. It now takes an average of three hours and 45 minutes to complete the test, not counting breaks, up from three hours previously.

The results come several months after numerous colleges reported surprisingly low SAT scores for this year's incoming college freshmen. The nonprofit College Board, which had said scores would be down this year, released figures Tuesday showing combined critical reading and math skills fell seven points on average to 1021.

The average critical reading score fell from 508 to 503, while math dropped from 520 to 518. On the new SAT writing section, the class scored 497 on average, with girls scoring 11 points higher than boys.

A state-by-state breakdown of the results provided by the College Board can befound online at http://www.collegeboard.com/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2006/reports.html.

more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060829/ap_on_re_us/sat_scores_5

[rurallib]

1. Five years of teaching to the test yields .........

SAT says it may be because this is a new test which includes an essay section. If kids can't answer essay questions we are in deep doo-doo. Life is a series of essay tests on all sorts of subjects.

[SoCalDem]

2. Exactly right..

When I was in school, the goal was to teach the kids, and then to test them to see what they learned...not to teach them what was needed to pass the test, and pressure them to learn it. Kids are famous for resisting pressure..It should be no surprise that they are not conforming the way they "should" be.

High schoolers have a lot on their plates these days.

I am so glad I was a teen in the late 60's, and feel very sad for teens these days.

[Warpy]

4. NCLB doesn't DO essays

and teachers have had to drill kids on passing the NCLB tests to keep their jobs.

The result will be a whole cohort of students who can't write coherently.

Heckuva job, Stupid.

[gully]

3. "Standardized Testing and Its Victims"

Interesting commentary by Senator Paul Wellstone:

As Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., put it in a speech delivered last spring: "Making students accountable for test scores works well on a bumper sticker, and it allows many politicians to look good by saying that they will not tolerate failure. But it represents a hollow promise. Far from improving education, high-stakes testing marks a major retreat from fairness, from accuracy, from quality, and from equity." Here's why.

Read on -

http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/edweek/staiv.htm

[displacedtexan]

6. The final paragraph of that piece is stunning.

The tests are just the means by which this game is played. It is a game that a lot of kids—predominantly kids of color—simply cannot win. Invoking these very kids to justify a top-down, heavy-handed, corporate-style, test-driven version of school reform requires a stunning degree of audacity. To take the cause of equity seriously is to work for the elimination of tracking, for more equitable funding, and for the universal implementation of more sophisticated approaches to pedagogy (as opposed to heavily scripted direct-instruction programs). But standardized testing, while bad news across the board, is especially hurtful to students who need our help the most.

[gully]

7. It would be interesting to compare which schools/methods of

teaching were used for the most successful students vs. those not so?

I have nothing against direct instruction, but I do think teaching to test scores and pressuring young kids on tests is not teaching.

[One_Life_To_Give]

5. ACT scores are up for the same group/class

IIRC The results for the ACT testing is up for the group/class. Could be studying for two different tests or as they say, not taking the new test twice.

[caligirl]

8. My son took the first writing test March 05, by the time he got

to the third part he was very tired. Mentally fatigued somewhat. His writing score did not reflect his ability. He got a 9 and a 720 which is low for him. His math was also a bit low for him, it was 700 and I think this part was the 3rd test of the day. His critical reading score was the only one that came close to his ability and expected performance, a 740.

[lindisfarne]

9. More and more kids are taking "SAT prep courses" so the drop is

even more than it seems ...

[displacedtexan]

11. Excellent point, lindisfarne!

SAT Prep is a zillion dollar biz!

[4nic8em]

10. Proof positive

of the monkey boy's "no child's behind left" program.

[Selatius]

12. A future college career should not be hung on a single test score

Because not all students who are bright and deserving of higher education are good test takers.

[Nabia2004]

13. No surprise, when the president brags about his C average

We have new standards now.

[lindisfarne]

14. According to NY Times article, a number of highly ranked colleges

are making standardized tests optional because they aren't the best predictor of success in college.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/31/education/31sat.html?ei=5094&en=464fd41a24d29901&hp=&ex=1157083200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

"At the same time, the revamped, longer SAT, the drop in average scores announced Tuesday and recent problems with scoring have created growing disenchantment. College officials also say that tests — whether the SAT, or in the Midwest, the ACT — are not the best predictors of performance.

“Test scores are a much weaker predictor of how students will do in college than their high school transcript,” said Mark Gearan, the president of Hobart and William Smith. “We really know our applicants, because we have an admissions staff that can read every essay, have a personal interview and review the high school transcript in depth.”

snip

Test scores, college officials say, present a skewed picture both of poor students who have had little formal preparation, and wealthy ones who spend thousands of dollars — not to mention evenings, weekends and summers — on tutoring.

“We felt the system had gotten out of whack,” said Steve Syverson, dean of admissions at Lawrence University, which admitted its first test-optional freshmen this year. “Back when kids just got a good night’s sleep and took the SAT, it was a leveler that helped you find the diamond in the rough. Now that most of the great scores are affluent kids with lots of preparation, it just increases the gap between the haves and the have-nots.’’

snip

Sure, all the kids who get SAT’s over 700 have real academic strengths,” he said. “But can you say that all the kids who get under 600 don’t, that they won’t do well?”

No, according to Bates’s 20-year study of test-optional admissions, finding that the graduation rate of those who submitted scores differed by only one-tenth of a percent from that of students who did not, about a third of Bates’ students.

“Human intelligence and ambition is more complex, more multifaceted, than any standardized testing system can capture,” Mr. Hiss said.