Washington area schools got a big disappointing shock this week. The SAT test results are in decline.
From the Washington Post:
SAT reading scores for graduating seniors this year reached the lowest point in nearly four decades, reflecting a steady decline in performance in that subject on the college admissions test, the College Board reported Wednesday.
In the Washington area, one of the nation’s leading producers of college-bound students, educators were scrambling to understand double-digit drops in test scores in Fairfax and Montgomery counties and elsewhere.
“Once you hit a certain mark, you want to maintain that,” said Frieda Lacey, deputy superintendent for Montgomery schools. “Don’t think the decline didn’t bother us. It really did.”
Nationally, the reading score for the class of 2011 was 497, down three points from the previous year and 33 points from 1972, the earliest year for which comparisons are possible. The average math score was 514, down one point from last year but up five from 1972.
The College Board attributed the lower scores to the growing diversity of test-takers, many of whom are less prepared for college-level work or are learning English as a second language.
The area school systems pretty much responded with the same reasons that the Princeton-based tesing center stated. More and more students are pulled to take the SAT. When I was coming along, not even 20% of the students took the SAT. There really was very little diversity. Now that figure is well over 50% and the demographics have changed significantly. That old statistics 101 axiom of life kicks in and reminds us that the more people tested, the more the tendency will hover around average, whatever that is.
Declining test scores also are brought about by the emphasis mandated by NCLB. Kids in the 4 subgroups are the focus of schools in the elementary and middle schools. By high school, most testing for SOL is end-of-course testing rather than generic testing, so while there is some impact, there is probably less than one might think.
Perhaps the most important question becomes,why is the average SAT score so important? Why are schools gaging themselves and their successes by a number that is produced by who takes the test? Until schools get control over who takes the test, it is meaningless. Perhaps schools ought to stop luring the academically less capable into taking the SATs and concentrate on making sure the kids who are truly college bound are prepared. To do othewise just makes school systems the ‘people of the lie.’
“The College Board attributed the lower scores to the growing diversity of test-takers, many of whom are less prepared for college-level work or are learning English as a second language.”
Can somebody explain to me how or why significant numbers of kids who can’t speak English well are preparing to enter American colleges. Please reassure me that my country hasn’t gone completely crazy and that we still have an expectation that college students can speak English.
@Rick
that explanation won’t be coming from me. How can non-English speakers be expected to pass SOL tests? After 1 year in ESOL classes,all students must take SOL tests.
I don’t know if foreign students are in that SAT stat or not. Someone might study English for years in preparation of going to college in the United States. I still wonder how many of those students are all that proficient.
I am not sure if it is a matter of speaking English well or just because SATs are a timed test that makes the test even harder for someone who is mastering a new langauge. Someone who has learned English from infancy will find English second nature and easier to answer the vocabulary portions quicker as well as comprehension without having to go through some filter. Just due to the nature of language I would kind of expect someone who is trying to master a new language and who might still be pretty good at it, to still struggle at times. Also, I would think that there might be some impact from home reinforcement depending on the proficiency of the parents’ proficiency.
I would be just as concerned about those who struggle with the test for whom English is not a second language.
Excellent point, Clinton, if it pertains to SAT. As for SOL, I think it is just plain stupid to have first year English speakers taking a full battery of tests, then marking the school down because the kid isn’t mastering the material.
Of course, I am one of those who learned English from infancy but still I said something like the “proficiency of the parents’ proficiency.” My bad.
That proves that one should “engage brain before hitting send”.
Well, these ESOL students are only dragging down the averages American kids won’t drag down.
I blame “The Jersey Shore”. I caught one episode, just to see what all the buzz was about. I could actually feel inteligence being sucked away from my brain, with every minute that passed. Considering all of the other “mental junk-food” being fed to our kids, is it any wonder their SATs are dropping?
It’s usually easier to speak a foreign language than to write or read it. I remember a class I took at GW where the prof decided to give an oral exam after students who spoke perfect English complained that what took a typical student four hours to read took them twelve as Farsi and Japanese were their native languages. Although they could easily speak English, it was laborious for them to read it.
If by “usually” you mean “always” I agree. 🙂 I can make myself understood with spoken Mandarin but if I try to write the same thing I said a native will bust a gut laughing at me.
@Cato the Elder
My husband and I went to Helsinki armed with a typical tourist’s guide and the ability to say “please”, “thank you” and do some basic counting. We got along all right using the city market for food and public transportation but were the source of amusement for the locals when we ventured into the bakery and tried to order in Finnish using our guide book.
Kudos to you for learning Mandarin!
I just had a chance to look at the graphic. You know me…I’m all about the data. The data would indicate that VA teachers are doing a pretty good job overall, when compared to our neighbor to the North, MD, and we are above the national mean-score as well.
@Steve, that did not escape my watchful eye either. Howevaaaaa…… the SAT is an aptitude test. Technically, we shouldn’t be able to really affect aptitude, should we? I don’t believe it but theoretically.
@Moon-howler
I’m inclined to agree with you about the aptitude nature of the SAT. It’s one of those tests (and the GRE was even more painful) that the only prep you can really do is to learn the types of questions. It kind of comes down to either you are good at picking up and retaining things or you aren’t. And ohhhh, brother, does that ever extend to the work world, too. It almost has to do with the way the brain is wired, and not how hard you study. You can study for years, if you’re not wired to retain what you’ve studied…..it’s just a tough road to travel, isn’t it?
One of these days, I want to have a discussion with Moon about education. I had experiences when I was in elementary school in Maryland that I have never seen again and never heard of again, and I want to get a teacher’s (a professional teacher’s) opinion about what I saw and what I see.
We can discuss here, on the phone or in email. Your choice. Or…I drink coffee, wine, scotch and margaritas.
As to being hard wired, Let’s not leave out the hardwiring for visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learning styles. I think auditory is my worst learning mode. I have trouble even focusing on audible books. I am easily distracted.
@Moon-howler
Auditory learning style saved my butt in school. I was always too distracted to read my lessons but could sit in class and later regurgitate anything I’d heard. It always helped to have a radio or tv on in my bedroom whenI was doing my homework. Too much silence made my mind wander.
@Censored,
As you have matured, has that skill gotten stronger or diminished? The older I get, the more distracting sound becomes.
Now, I can listen to TV without seeing the picture but I have a rough time with audible books.
@Moon-howler
It’s diminished but I don’t know whether it’s age related. The loss of that skill coincided with a couple head injuries – one caused by having my sister’s SUV gate slammed on my head and another in a car accident.
When I was a writer, another writer I interviewed was concerned about my lack of notes and then surprised when I quoted her verbatim. It was very easy to remember practically everything said to me then. Now, not so much.
@censored, I have never been blessed with that kind of gift. I cannot remember auditory things any more and it was never my strong point even when A kid.
I personally do not place much stock in the SAT test…and the reason being there are many colleges across the Nation who are no longer making it a requirement because, since the folks in Princeton flipped it around about 5 years or so a go and added the essay, it is not considered by the colleges/universities as a true mark of apptitude.
Case in Point: George Mason University. Neither SAT or ACB is a requirement. They focus more on the High School Transcript, giving weight to AP/IB courses since those also used to provide course equivalent.
GMU also, when it comes to many of the Masters Degrees, also do not require the high-end Princeton tests such as GMAT. Want an MBA but can’t pass GMAT? Ok, cough up $65,000 and as long as experience in management postion, you can enter the Executive MBA Program. GLAT though still a requirement for School of Law, although I always crack up with the focus on English Comprehension for Law Schools – law is not written in either American Standard English or the Queen’s English….
I didnt realize the essay had been removed. When I took the SAT back in the dark ages we had to take a writing sample which was an essay. Also we had to take a foreign language achievement test and math and language arts.
It was vry difficult. I get the question of the day now. I rarely miss one. I am not smarter now than I was then, just more focused. I think it is easier by far.
SAT scores are not at all an accurate way to predict college success. There are loads of studies that will tell you this. There is much controversy about the SAT being a test used simply to “weed out” students and to generate a great deal of wealth for the academic testing/coaching industry.
A much better predictor of college success is a student’s grades paired with his/her strength of curriculum.
Hi DG, welcome back. Thanks for your very knowledgeable input.
I had to laugh once talking to an old friend who is a College Admissions Director up in New York. Kathy told me the Armed Forces Vocational Apptitude Test the kids take is a better indicator than the SAT.
My daughter is a senior and as a HS student of the eighties I asked her when she planned on taking the SAT which was the be all, end all in the eighties. Her answer “Not planning on it until I have to.” My daughter is in a dual educational program through PWCS that is giving her vocational training plus IB/AP classes. She is focused on the vocational training and LOVES IT!!!!! This career is what she wants. When I mentioned SAT’s, her response was that the colleges have access to her SOL’s, IB exams, and AP exam results. To her the SAT is an extra exam only to be taken IF a college down the road wants it.