One might draw from this that there are cultures which thrive in an educational environment, and those that don't.
While some might try to tie results to race, it appears that race plays a smaller part than cultural factors.
Posted on 08/30/2006 2:42:34 PM PDT by shrinkermd
SAT Scores See Biggest Decline Since 1975
The high-school class of 2006 suffered the biggest drop in SAT scores in more than three decades -- a development that may raise more questions about the recently revamped exam than the students who took it.
The College Board, the New York nonprofit that gives the admissions test, says scores in critical reading -- formerly known as verbal -- fell by five points to 503, out of 800 possible points. Math scores slipped two points, to 518, also out of 800 points. The combined decrease of seven points is the biggest since 1975, when there was a 16-point drop. Overall, math scores had been rising in the past decade, while reading has been relatively flat; there have been occasional small declines in either or both scores.
The scores announced yesterday were the first to fully reflect the revised test introduced in March 2005. Along with a writing section that consists of an essay and multiple-choice questions, the new test added higher-level algebra and did away with analogy questions on the reading section. Requiring nearly four hours to complete, the test has a possible score of 2,400 points, up from 1,600 points with the old 2½-hour test.
Scores on the new writing tests averaged 497 points out of 800, with females averaging 502, 11 points higher than males.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Actually SAT scores are a relatively good predictor of college performance, which is why colleges require them. As in your case, they are by no means perfect. Which is why colleges also require high school grades. They are NOT now and have not been since about 1975, useful as an intelligence test - the test was changed, ending their usefullness for this purpose. That said, success in life is not measured by how many sheepskins you hang on the wall. I have several degrees personally, but the content of your character is what matters as far as I am concerned.
I tuk the SAT tess 3 times my first senur yer.
I tuk it agan 4 times my sekund senur yer.
Now, how many times do I haf to tak this dam tes?? Yu wood think that 5 times is mor then enuf!!!!
Wow! It's a good guess that you and/or your wife are pretty bright. Of course, things may have skipped a generation. (just kidding).
Congratulations.
If you take into account that they have dumbed down the test, they scores have really fallen.
Some guesses off the top of my head:
1. Four hours is a long time to be sitting in a room with a number two pencil and a bubble sheet.
2. Many students don't read a lot any more. I teach some bright male students who can read well enough, as long the reading consists of cheats for video games and short articles in Maxim or GQ. Most of my female students read more than the males since they're e-mailing all the time. None of them, however, read newspapers. A few read novels. A lot of them, both male and female, read the Internet, which is often fragmented and presented in tiny bits.
3. A lot of the standards that we used to have back when I was child in the late Stone Age (circa 1965) have vanished. I know teachers who smile and brag that they can't spell. Grammar lessons are scattered in the curriculum; it used to be the main subject of learning. Proper diction, smooth prose, and elegant style are virtually ignored in the modern English class and rarely imposed on a student, unless it is part of a lesson about an author or a specific book.
4. Just observing my society over the years I've noticed a decline in clarity as more and more of us adopt legalese as a our "main mode of communication" (speaking). At the same time, comedy has devolved from wit and banter (Newhart, Tom Lehrer, the Marx Brothers) into crudity and grossness ("American Pie," Larry the Cable Guy). You have to understand something about language to catch the jokes in a Marx Brothers movie; shouting a vulgarism followed by a fart doesn't require much verbal understanding.
5. Compare the lyrics of Motown to the lyrics of a rap artists.
6. And let me tell you about the science teacher who once told me with some apparent pride that "I don't read books."
So those are some ideas. Overall, it doesn't surprise me that the reading scores of today's students would decline.
My two cents worth.
The test is sexist and doesn't have enough essays about cars and sports.
Not that long ago colleges used two different scores for admission. Women were accepted with lower math scores than men. Both scores were listed in the College Admissions book.
sorry, I couldn't resist!
NCLB is for grammar schools. But don't let the facts get in the way of your commentary.
I wrote: "I've got a cousin who's got two children: "
You wrote: "Wow! It's a good guess that you and/or your wife are pretty bright. "
Not a good guess! I'm not married, those aren't my kids, and I haven't found a woman dumb enough to want to talk to me, let alone go on a date!
Like I said, I can't believe I'm related to kids that smart!
Mark
Allow me to add my $.02 to yours.
My nephew is 14 years old, and I have noticed that he and his friends have a palpable antipathy to learning.
I weep for the future.
We need mo money to ficks edookashun. Den it be all bettor.
I would bet that half the English majors today could pass this test.
http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=14457200288064322170
The little public educated darlings are non-confrontational,
gender and race neutral, and live by the maxim of "its not fair." They will make fine cannon fodder in times of national emergency.
Why on Earth change a test that's been around for so long and worked so well. I'd like to know how much was spent for this NEW test.
Huh?
502-497=5. Where does the 11 pt difference come from?
Writing tests are more likely to be subjectively scored. On the math, etc, males outperformed females.
Political Correctness has evidently dumbed down everybody.
On the one hand we are told that Latino illegal immigrants total 12 million people and this huge number doesn't even include their US citizen offspring. Then we are told that these folks don't fare too well in our education system.
Now I see that the brightest people in the our country can't see why our educational stats are down.
Kinda stupid to inject millions of people who don't excell in education into our schools then wonder why average performance stats are down.
Another problem may be that SAT prep schools did not know how to prepare kids for this test. These are scores from the first year. For instance, analogies were taken out entirely.
It'll be interesting to see if they go up next year.
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