The SAT: Yay or Nay Hao Li

Outline 1. The problem --“SAT” optimal movement 2. Misconceptions about the SAT 3. Predictive validity of SAT score: predicting college performance 4. Proposed solution – Keep the SAT1, emphasize on the SAT2

SAT optional movement Anyone involved in education should be concerned about how overemphasis on the SAT is distorting educational priorities and practices, how the test is perceived by many as unfair, and how it can have a devastating impact on the self-esteem and aspirations of young students. There is widespread agreement that overemphasis on the SAT harms American education. --- Richard Atkinson, the former president of the UC SSAT is not cool. Let’s make it optional! Richard A., 2001, “ACHIEVEMENT VERSUS APTITUDE TESTS IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS”, Issues in Science and Technology, Winter

Why the SAT in the first place? – Its function(s) Misconception 1 : the SAT has the sole purpose of evaluating high school student’s academic readiness for college.

More than that The SAT was initially developed in the late 1800s to be the first standardized exam that test student’s readiness for college-level course work. Due to the substantial differences in funding, curricula, grading, and difficulty among U.S. secondary schools as a result of U.S. federalism, a standardized test, such as the SAT, is necessary to supplement the secondary school record and help admission officers put local data—such as course work, grades, and class rank—in a national perspective (Korbin L, 2006).

The content of the SAT? Misconception 2: the material that the SAT test on was designed to directly reflect high school curriculum.

Not quite The content of the SAT is determined according to The Common Core State Standards Initiative, known as “the Common Core”, an education initiative in the United States that details what K-12 students should know in English and math at the end of each grade. In other words…

The triangular relationship Common Core High school curriculum SAT

Natasha V., Elaine C., Beth H. and Danielle L., (2010), “Common Core State Standards Alignment”, Research Report. CollegeBoard, Web. 29 Oct 2013

What does SAT score mean Misconception 3 : good scores indicate that you are a SAT pro, but that’s it.

The Predictive Validity of the SAT Jennifer L. et al., “Validity of the SAT for predicting first-year college grade point average”, College Board Research Report, No New York: College Board.

Nonetheless… 1. The SAT is not a perfect test in the sense that the score does not have a linear correlation (correlation coefficient = 1) with college academic performance. Gap does exist. 2. Moreover, using SAT as a hard cut off to selectively choose student with strong academic background will close the door for two types of students: those who have talents other than having a good grade and those who are specialist in certain subjects but bad in other subjects (the “spike students”)

Solution 1. Make the SAT1 an easier but more comprehensive test so that it serves as a way to measure the very basic math, verbal and writing skills of the students. 2. At the same time, we should design SAT2, the subject tests, in a way such that they can fully reveal the individual’s potential in specific field.

SAT2 is good UC researchers Saul Geiser and Roger Studley have analyzed the records of almost 78,000 freshmen who entered UC over the past four years. They concluded that the SAT II is, in fact, a better predictor of college grades than the SAT I. The UC data show that high school grades plus the SAT II account for about 21 percent of the explained variance in first-year college grades. When the SAT I is added to high school grades and the SAT II, the explained variance increases from 21 percent to 21.1 percent, a trivial increment.

Why keep SAT1? 1.Provide a unified standard for evaluating high school student. 2.It completes what it sets out to do – reflect the requirement in the Common Core. Good alignments between the SAT1 and the Common Core 3.It has some correlation with college GPA (predictive validity)

We do need SAT1 4. The goal of college education is to cultivate well-rounded individuals “ (general education) connects history, art, science, and politics. It requires all of the intellectual horsepower and deep thinking we have traditionally associated with the best of liberal education but now, with a practical bent. Practical in this sense means the ability to apply knowledge, to think “horizontally”-- connecting disparate dots between disciplines and seemingly infinite information. It also means competence in “soft skills” such as valuing and embracing diverse ideas and people, the ability to work cooperatively with others, possessing a strong rather than a large ego, and the ability to tolerate ambiguity and bounce back after setbacks”

Finally, on top of everything…