Yes, I think that the argument about more students taking the SAT holds,
and is substantiated by certain other data, such as the highest SAT scores
comes from Mississippi--and this is explained as they have the smallest
number of students taking the SAT--only those going to college.
BUT it is also the case that MANY schools teach to the SAT. I hate to say
it but my son, who got a perfect score the math SAT is adamant that for
the year of high school math during which they took the SAT, even though
he was in calculus C/D, MOST of the instruction revolved around quizzes
that targetted the SAT-type of information. The same in his English
courses--reading comp, vocab, etc. all targetted sample SAT type quizzes.
Accordingly, the school district he was in also had a mean SAT above the
local, state and national means. So I guess it was working. And I very
much doubt his school and district are the only ones doing so.
So there is some deflation and some inflation going on--hard to say where
the balance lies.
annette
On Thu, 8 Feb 2001 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> In a message dated 2/8/2001 6:57:55 PM Pacific Standard Time,
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>
>
> > If students keep getting worse and we have to lower our standards
> > even to maintain the current grade averages, how do we explain the
> > worldwide
> >
>
> Is one possible reason for the decrease in SAT scores the fact that more
> students are taking it? That's what I think I heard.
>
> I am also of the opinion that schools don't cultivate the reasoning skills
> that are tested on the SAT, but that is based on my own observation and not
> on scientific data of any kind.
>
> Nancy Melucci
> East LA College
>
Annette Taylor, Ph. D.
Department of Psychology E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
University of San Diego Voice: (619) 260-4006
5998 Alcala Park
San Diego, CA 92110
"Education is one of the few things a person
is willing to pay for and not get."
-- W. L. Bryan
