Why not just give every student 100%? This notion that students should have less-than-perfect scores implies that any student is less-than-perfect, which is practically the same as eugenics or settler-colonialism or something (I think that’s what Frantz Fanon was talking about but I have trouble concentrating so don’t be ableist please).
The sooner grades are abolished altogether, the sooner we’ll all be smarter.
trombonist_formerly on
>The College Board notes on page 13 of its Digital SAT Suite of Assessments technical framework that two of the primary goals in changing the exam were to make it shorter and to give students more time per question. To make this happen in the new “Reading and Writing” section of the test, they shortened reading passages from 500-750 words all the way down to 25-150 words, or the length of a social-media post, with one question per passage. Their explanation is that this model “operates more efficiently when choices about what test content to deliver are made in small rather than larger units.”
>This resulted in the elimination of significant portions of SAT’s previously used reading material, including “passages in the U.S. founding documents/Great Global Conversation subject area,” because of their “extended length.” Nevertheless, the College Board takes the view that the rigor of the Reading and Writing segment is unchanged. They claim in the assessment framework that the eliminated reading passages are “not an essential prerequisite for college” and that the new, shorter content helps “students who might have struggled to connect with the subject matter.”
….
>But, rather than hold students to a clear and rigorous standard, the College Board is catering to students’ declining performance and social-media-induced attention-control issues.
>This extends to the changes made in the new SAT math section, as well. College Board now serves test-takers fewer questions but did not reduce the amount of time for the section correspondingly. Students taking the post-2024 SAT now have 1.6 minutes per question, compared to 1.3 minutes on the 2015-2024 SAT. (The ACT and CLT provide 1.1 minutes per question.) Additionally, a calculator can now be used for the entirety of the SAT math section.
FilteringAccount123 on
RETVRN to verbal analogies
PuritanSettler1620 on
Parents used to want schools which would provide a good education, now they just demand credentials. I think this is a symptom of that same issue. Rigor is a good thing!
wumbopolis_ on
To what extent is this a problem that universities could solve on their own?
Like, AFAIK, College Board (the not-for-profit that writes and administers the SAT) is mostly run by members who are themselves universities. If universities feel like the SAT’s rigor is no longer good enough to gauge incoming freshmen, can’t the schools just tell the College Board to write a harder test?
IDK, I’m a big believer in higher ed, and have benefited tremendously from getting a degree. But post-COVID, it feels like the trend from universities has been to diminish the value of a degree. They can get more applicants, but I no longer take a college degree as seriously as I use to.
jjgm21 on
There is so much research out there that suggests lowering rigor and expectations leads to exponentially lower outcomes.
That being said, I don’t have a problem with giving students more time to complete, although that shouldn’t have taken the form of removing questions.. Extreme time limits on high stakes testing are ridiculous.
6 Comments
Why not just give every student 100%? This notion that students should have less-than-perfect scores implies that any student is less-than-perfect, which is practically the same as eugenics or settler-colonialism or something (I think that’s what Frantz Fanon was talking about but I have trouble concentrating so don’t be ableist please).
The sooner grades are abolished altogether, the sooner we’ll all be smarter.
>The College Board notes on page 13 of its Digital SAT Suite of Assessments technical framework that two of the primary goals in changing the exam were to make it shorter and to give students more time per question. To make this happen in the new “Reading and Writing” section of the test, they shortened reading passages from 500-750 words all the way down to 25-150 words, or the length of a social-media post, with one question per passage. Their explanation is that this model “operates more efficiently when choices about what test content to deliver are made in small rather than larger units.”
>This resulted in the elimination of significant portions of SAT’s previously used reading material, including “passages in the U.S. founding documents/Great Global Conversation subject area,” because of their “extended length.” Nevertheless, the College Board takes the view that the rigor of the Reading and Writing segment is unchanged. They claim in the assessment framework that the eliminated reading passages are “not an essential prerequisite for college” and that the new, shorter content helps “students who might have struggled to connect with the subject matter.”
….
>But, rather than hold students to a clear and rigorous standard, the College Board is catering to students’ declining performance and social-media-induced attention-control issues.
>This extends to the changes made in the new SAT math section, as well. College Board now serves test-takers fewer questions but did not reduce the amount of time for the section correspondingly. Students taking the post-2024 SAT now have 1.6 minutes per question, compared to 1.3 minutes on the 2015-2024 SAT. (The ACT and CLT provide 1.1 minutes per question.) Additionally, a calculator can now be used for the entirety of the SAT math section.
RETVRN to verbal analogies
Parents used to want schools which would provide a good education, now they just demand credentials. I think this is a symptom of that same issue. Rigor is a good thing!
To what extent is this a problem that universities could solve on their own?
Like, AFAIK, College Board (the not-for-profit that writes and administers the SAT) is mostly run by members who are themselves universities. If universities feel like the SAT’s rigor is no longer good enough to gauge incoming freshmen, can’t the schools just tell the College Board to write a harder test?
IDK, I’m a big believer in higher ed, and have benefited tremendously from getting a degree. But post-COVID, it feels like the trend from universities has been to diminish the value of a degree. They can get more applicants, but I no longer take a college degree as seriously as I use to.
There is so much research out there that suggests lowering rigor and expectations leads to exponentially lower outcomes.
That being said, I don’t have a problem with giving students more time to complete, although that shouldn’t have taken the form of removing questions.. Extreme time limits on high stakes testing are ridiculous.