Reply to Tests are back, where’s the data?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The SAT is now a 2-hour, very preppable, superscorable test of math through Algebra 2, basic grammar/punctuation, and vocabulary in context. Median scores are declining because kids in the middle and below are learning less in high school. Scores at the top are rising because motivated kids with access to resources can easily master the content or just get lucky after taking it six times. It's a test mildly useful to validate high school grades, especially in math. It has little to do with whether kids can write or read and understand more than a paragraph or two at a time.[/quote]
Caltech:  "Test scores are predictive of success, [b]even into students' sophomore and junior years[/b]"[/quote]

Everyone is misunderstanding me. The SAT is better than nothing. Students without near-perfect math scores are going to struggle at Caltech. But requiring it isn't going to produce radical improvements in student quality, especially in reading and writing skills. We also don't have a lot of data about the digital SAT, which is a significantly different test. The trend toward taking the SAT three times at a minimum and often 5+ times is also, while not completely new, continuing to rise.[/quote]

I agree about the test.  The test should be made much harder to really allow separation at the upper end, and you should get two tries. [/quote]

Even CalTech doesn’t see the need to distinguish between a 780 math and an 800 math. So I don’t see how there can possibly be any demand for a test that allows even more separation at the upper end. [/quote]

It’s because they know that an 800 doesn’t mean as much as it used to, and a 780 is probably the same as a kid with an 800 but with a stupid arithmetic or carelessness error.  If you make it much harder, the few kids that can still earn an 800 will really stand out.  The SAT is suffering from range restriction right now.[/quote]

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