District Administration - November 2006 - (Page 34)

TESTING & ASSESSMENT 30-Year SAT Numbers 52 0 518 518 516 515 514 512 Critical 510 509 509 508 508 reading 5 07 505 505 505 505 505 50 4 50 4 50 4 50 4 503 502 5 01 5 01 5 01 500 500 500 500 499 4 97 497 Writing M a t hema t ic s 4 97 495 49 4 493 492 490 1976 1978 1980 1982 198 4 1986 1988 1990 1992 199 4 1996 1998 2000 2002 200 4 2006 isn't immediately apparent, but SAT 1 point increase in math, says answer for how to prepare students critics like Bob Schaeffer, the public Caren L. Scoropanos, a spokesperson to tackle a longer and in some education director for policy group for the College Board. ways tougher test, besides pack- Fair Test, insist it's there. It matters Scoropa nos also notes that 6 i ng up a few energy bars. There's because colleges heavily rely on test percent of the class of 2006 showed no one silver bullet that's the scores. They have an explicit cut-off up early in their junior year to take reason students didn't do as well, for scholarships, for example. One the last administrations of the old argues Cathy Schroeder, the press point can mean the difference in SAT, presumably to avoid the new secretary for the Department of getting fi nancial support or between test. But while early testers are usu- Education in Florida, which saw being admitted or not, he says. a lly well-prepared and score well, its scores drop 3 points in 2006, a One result of the new format may last year's early tester group scored year where the state's 10th grade be a decline in the popularity of the more than 30 points lower than in assessment stayed fl at after several college-entrance test. Already under prior years. As for fatigue, College years of decline. fire for tests that had been misgraded Board analysis showed no difference The drop in scores gives critics earlier in the year, the College Board in either the number of items correct of the SATs more ammo for their saw a very slight decline in the num- or omitted between sections early or argument that the test shouldn't be a ber of students who took the test in late in the test. mandatory admittance requirement 2006, from 1,475,623 in 2005 to St i ll, even if the test is as well- for universities, and gives late-night 1,465,744. At the same time, the constr ucted as it's ever been, the comedians fodder for some more ACT has increased in popularity, changes in test-taking behavior show jokes about how dumb today's stu- from 1,186,251 students taking the that students may not be entirely dent s have become. But it's too early test in 2005 to 1,206,455 in 2006, comfortable with the new format. to say for sure what the dip really which is in keeping with the rate of The College Board doesn't have num- means. Typically, when we introduce increase over the last few years. Ten bers on why fewer students took the a new test, student behavior does years ago, you couldn't find ten stu- test a second time or why the early change, Scoropanos says. In 1994, dent s in our school in Massachusetts testers didn't do as well. It's all spec- when we eliminated antonyms and who had even heard of the ACT. Now ulation it could be the test was too allowed students to use a calculator a significant number of my kids are long, or they didn't like the writing, on portions of the math section, we taking it, MacGowan says. or they felt like the first time they did saw a 7 point increase. No one com- pla ined about the test then. DA De p end i ng on where a student good enough, Scoropanos says. wants to go to college, ignoring TES T POPULARITY the SAT may not be a option, but Carl Vogel is a Chicago-based nobody seems to have a good T he impact of the drop in scores freelance writer. 34 November 2006 District Administration SAT.indd 34 10/13/06 2:28:29 PM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - November 2006

Contents
Editor's Letter
Update
Inside the Law
Curriculum Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
SAT Trends
Broad awards top urban prize
Boston's Perseverance
NCLB's Purity
Why No Child Left Behind is here to stay
COVER STORY: Is Bill Gates a Good School Leader?
Does K-12 Make Sense?
Arthur Levine on teacher education
An IEP for every student?
Teacher Education: Time to Tame the Wild West
The Individual Academic Plan
Speaking Out
David Thornburg on
Professional Opinion
Problem/Solution
Research Corner
Computer Literature
New Products
By the Numbers

District Administration - November 2006