SAT Reading Scores Fall To Lowest Level On Record

[Purveyor]

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(09-14) 10:02 PDT , (AP) --

SAT reading scores for the high school class of 2011 were the lowest on record, and combined reading and math scores fell to their lowest point since 1995.

The College Board, which released the scores Wednesday, said the results reflect the record size and diversity of the pool of test-takers. As more students aim for college and take the exam, it tends to drag down average scores.

Meanwhile, other tests taken by more representative groups of high school students have shown reading skills holding steadier. And in the context of the 800-point test, the three-point decline in reading scores to 497 may seem little more than a blip.

Still, it's just the second time in the last two decades reading scores have fallen as much in a single year. And reading scores are now notably lower than as recently as 2005, when the average was 508.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/09/14/national/a100251D61.DTL

[xchrom]

1. that's not possible! we got us some 'TESTS'.

'TESTS' will save the day.

:eyes:

[villager]

2. Right! We don't want future drones "comprehendin'" too much, anyway!

n/t

[QC]

3. This is but one of the many fruits of NCLB.

I see it in my classroom every day.

I would go into more detail here, but I have to go to a class where I will painstakingly walk college freshman through the reading and analysis of a very simple newspaper editorial so that they might begin writing a response to it.

(Personal response used to be a very basic high school assignment. Now, however, we do it with college freshmen because many have such weak reading skills--and these are the students who placed into college English classes, mind you.)

[alp227]

4. so did NCLB make public school curricula out of touch w/the SAT?

And do you consider the SAT the gold standard of college readiness?

[QC]

7. NCLB has not been especially good for critical thinking.

Students are now pretty good at looking at four options and picking the one most like yo to be correct, but ask them to identify the main idea in an essay, or analyze the effectiveness of its argument, and then things get tricky.

FWIW, my mechanic was complaining to me the other day that his recent grades of the mechanics program at the local trade school have similar issues. He says they're fine when you tell them what to do to a car, but ask them to figure out why it's not running right and they are bumfuzzled. That requires a good bit in the way of critical thinking, after all.

[Blue_Tires]

14. I've definitely been seeing this with college freshman

who i work with daily

[QC]

15. Yet they are wonderful kids in so many ways. I love working with them,

and I fear that their schools have not done right by them.

Once you can convince them that it's OK to do something other than regurgitate approved responses, they really have a lot of fun. I get to do that a lot, since I teach lit and composition. It's almost as thought they can't quite believe that school can be something other than drills and tests.

[Harmony Blue]

5. Yes I can understand your frustration.

Many incoming freshman struggle with FANBOYS. I even do so, from time to time, but at least I am aware of my short comings.

[QC]

16. Struggling is fine! It is good to have to push a bit to read something.

What worries me more is when I see people take so little interest in reading that they will not make that push.

[CountAllVotes]

6. i cant beleive this

how could this be tru? i went to school an i learned how to read an how to rite an i c now how much i no .... i have a puter an i can text ... :sarcasm: (example of what I see every damn day and oh how it sickens me!)

The failure and integrity of the English language is long gone. How damn sad! :(

[Cool Logic]

8. And the defenders of the status quo will say all that is needed is...

mo money, mo money, mo money...

Regrettably, education at the federal level, has more to do with politics, than education.

I would prefer to see 50 States become 50 educational laboratories, with each conducting their own experiments in the pursuit of discovering the learning models that work best for them.

There would be good ideas as well as some bad ones, but out of it all would surely come some better ideas.

[no_hypocrisy]

9. NCLB may teach how to take tests better, but it doesn't mean anything

if you don't know the substance of the questions.

[Vattel]

10. Speaking of reading and critical thinking skills,

if you have such skills you will have noticed that this does not show that kids are getting worse at reading.

[DrunkenBoat]

13. +1

[liberation]

17. Expand on that

[bemildred]

18. Nor does it suggest that they are getting any better. nt

[patrice]

19. It means what it means WITHIN the context of the processes of standardization.

[patrice]

20. Outside of that context it is INDETERMINENT, i.e. neither this, nor that. nt

[Divernan]

24. Do you mean "indeterminate"?

Definition of INDETERMINATE
1
a : not definitely or precisely determined or fixed : vague b : not known in advance c : not leading to a definite end or result
2
: having an infinite number of solutions <a system of indeterminate equations>
3
: being one of the seven undefined mathematical expressions
4
: characterized by sequential flowering from the lateral or basal buds to the central or uppermost buds; also : characterized by growth in which the main stem continues to elongate indefinitely without being limited by a terminal inflorescence — compare determinate 4
— in·de·ter·mi·nate·ly adverb
— in·de·ter·mi·nate·ness noun
— in·de·ter·mi·na·tion \-ˌtər-mə-ˈnā-shən\ noun

[KeepItReal]

11. "Rarely is the question asked: 'Is our children learning?' " - George W. Bush

Need I say more?

[exboyfil]

12. I have to wonder a couple of things

Are more prestigious schools taking the ACT as well? That would have a tendency to put downward pressure on the SAT since it has been generally expected by the more prestigious schools. For example very few Iowans bother to take the SAT except those who want to go to Harvard etc.

As always with this statistic, unless everyone is taking the test in this country and did so when the baseline was set for comparision, it is likely that more less prepared/less gifted students are taking the test.

[spedtr90]

21. 10 years of NCLB, politicians and fat cats running schools...what could go wrong?

[defendandprotect]

22. Just the way the RW likes it -- dumb down America -- !!

[frylock]

23. it's got electrolytes!

[Blandocyte]

25. Article seems to be blaming minority students

But then, again, i ain't much of no reeder.

[tawadi]

26. SAT scores for Texas high school students drop sharply

Source: chron.com

SAT scores for Texas high school students drop sharply

By TERENCE STUTZ, DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Published 09:31 p.m., Wednesday, September 14, 2011

AUSTIN - Texas high school students stumbled badly on the SAT this year as scores dropped sharply in math, reading and writing to their lowest levels in several years.

They were not alone - average scores across the nation on the college entrance exam also dropped, although not as precipitously as in Texas.

In the last decade, Texas students' reading scores on the SAT have steadily dropped. Math scores are up slightly in that time, though they've dropped since the middle of the decade. And results on the SAT writing test have dropped every year in Texas since it was introduced in 2006.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/article/SAT-scores-for-Texas-high-school-students-drop-2171393.php

---

I seem to remember Perry bragging about the high schools in his state. Not too much to brag about, apparently.

[Kingofalldems]

27. I understand they have great football stadiums in Texas.

[Devil_Fish]

29. I was going to comment that the foot ball teams are doing quite well in Texas. NT

[TwilightGardener]

28. Perry angle aside, I read that ACT scores are lower where I live.

I really believe it's the culmination of 4-5 years or more of cell phone texting, Facebook, video games, etc. I have teenagers, I see the behavior close-up. Just too many distractions now.

[lunasun]

30. Stupid begets more stupid ! Maybe they prayed for high SAT scores instead of real work/study

[Phlem]

31. They grows em gooooood in TexAss.

That state's so fucked and for them to have influence on study materials for the rest of the nation is patent insanity.

-p

[Javaman]

32. he also bragged about being "anti-intellectual" today as well.

the guy is one contraction after another yet no one calls him on it.

[vets74]

34. Great Hair falls out. Stupid lasts forever. (Judge Judy-ish)

[ThoughtCriminal]

33. Another "Texas Miracle"

Oh my. Who saw that coming?
:eyes: