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Thursday, March 06, 2014

A New SAT Aims to Realign With Schoolwork

Saying its college admission exams do not focus enough on the important academic skills, the College Board announced on Wednesday a fundamental rethinking of the SAT, ending the longstanding penalty for guessing wrong, cutting obscure vocabulary words and making the essay optional.

The president of the College Board, David Coleman, criticized his own test, the SAT, and its main rival, the ACT, saying that both had “become disconnected from the work of our high schools.”

In addition, Mr. Coleman announced programs to help low-income students, who will now be given fee waivers allowing them to apply to four colleges at no charge. And even before the new exam is introduced, in the spring of 2016, the College Board, in partnership with Khan Academy, will offer free online practice problems and instructional videos showing how to solve them.

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9 comments:

Anonymous said...

This copied from the Liberty Voice says it all-

"Speaking of words, there are almost none to describe the significance of this downgrading of the SAT test. It’s as if educators have collectively thrown up their hands and said “we give up.” The United States is no longer concerned, it seems, with turning out the best and the brightest, but with altering benchmarks to meet the lowered expectations and standards of a generation stupefied beyond imagination."

Anonymous said...

This has everything to do with the SAT's scores hitting rock bottom several years ago. Instead of an attempt to really and truly educate students, liberalism dictates just make the test easier, so the appearance of students doing better on it is there.

Anonymous said...

They've lowered the test standard so the folks that shouldn't go to college (let alone graduate high school) can get a fairer opportunity.

We have become so politically correct to accommodate the lower forms of life wasting our oxygen that we do not see the effect it has on our global standing. Other countries are blowing by us like we are standing still - in fact, we are moving backwards.

Anonymous said...

College tuition and Student Loan are just Marxist Income transfer apparatus... to pay for do nothings to do nothing..

WASTE OF TAX PAYING DOLLARS said...

Can we do away with the Department of Education PLEASE

Anonymous said...

If I ever doubted the b.s. of the Core Curriculum, now I have no doubt.

If I'm a doctor and I "guess" that your liver is your appendix, no penalty for me, hooray!

Anonymous said...

Lets face it...I might be old...but at least I grew up when you received a decent education in public school and dummy down didn't hit until the 60s. Now if you want you child to get an education you need to cough up the cash for the private school. I would not have my grandchildren in public school.

Anonymous said...

Like the state making schools allow more discipline offenses instead of suspending those who ruin learning for everybody. If you can't make students follow the rules, get rid of the rules. If students haven't learned enough to do well on the SAT, make the SAT easier.

Anonymous said...

When I was growing up - the test was the test...I took it with only the preparation provided by my public school education...got a decent score and got offers from multiple colleges. Some of my fellow studetns at the time didn't do so well on the test (as they weren't doing so well in school to start with), and didn't get in to college.

Along comes the 'everyone deserves college' liberal government to guarantee less fortunate a good job (tat the Government subsequently gives them) and we can see the impact on our governments projects inefficiencies.....

I'd say the "hope and change" is working for some....