Here we go again.
Another testing result has come out and the lamentations have begun.
On the average, our national SAT scores slipped by one point this year.
Unlike Florida's FCAT that measures all students, many perceive the SAT as a better measure of a school's academic performance.
After all, aren't the SAT students the ones who are academically-inclined? The ones who aspire to attend college? As with everything in analyzing numbers, however, so much can be deceptive.
For starters, the slip in points from last year is nothing new.
That downward trend has been going on since 2004.
Analysts claim that this is probably due to the increasing numbers of students taking the SAT.
The higher the number of test-takers there are, the lower the average scores tend to be.
Also, the national average this year showed that forty percent of students who took SAT were minorities.
Twenty-five percent came from homes where English was not the primary language spoken.
Conversely, students from affluent families of over $200,000 income showed a whopping 27 point increase in their SATs (Education Week, August 2009)? Isn't it wonderful to be able to afford expensive test-preparation programs? The College Board repeatedly warns the media and the public to NOT rank states, school districts, and individual schools based on these results.
There are demographics and so many other factors that heavily influence scores.
Case in point: Maine experienced a huge decline this year.
However, all of their public school seniors, both college and non-college bound, are now required to take the SAT (thanks, NCLB!).
Again, more students taking the test generally means a drop in test score averages.
I firmly believe in assessing and monitoring the progress of students.
It is a valuable tool in the education process.
But testing alone does not improve teaching.
Testing alone does not improve learning.
And does the public have any idea how much taxpayer's money and educator's time is spent on test materials, test preparation programs, consultants, curriculum schedule overhauling, teacher training, etc.
? Millions of dollars and hundreds of hours! Rather than spending money on testing, we should focus on helping schools meet the linguistic needs of students, paying attention to each of their cultural differences.
Spend the money on specialized training for teachers so that they can accomplish this.
Start enriching the reading programs early, like in pre-school.
More importantly, we should give the schools the support they need to take on this gigantic task.
Sensationalized media headlines with test results have a more devastating influence on property value than one can imagine.
Regardless of the multitude of accomplishments school districts make, headlines on front pages depicting the drop of SAT scores in one school, or a slash in school grade of another, sets it back by a milestone.
The bad reputation has been created, one based purely on test scores.
The city's stigma is born.
There goes housing sales or the attraction of businesses that would bring jobs into the area.
How are we supposed to attract investment in our communities and create the economic boon and jobs that come with it when the media continues to emphasize on the negative labels of schools? We didn't label schools based on test scores back in the day when we went to school.
We didn't place letter grades on them.
Why are we doing it now?
Another testing result has come out and the lamentations have begun.
On the average, our national SAT scores slipped by one point this year.
Unlike Florida's FCAT that measures all students, many perceive the SAT as a better measure of a school's academic performance.
After all, aren't the SAT students the ones who are academically-inclined? The ones who aspire to attend college? As with everything in analyzing numbers, however, so much can be deceptive.
For starters, the slip in points from last year is nothing new.
That downward trend has been going on since 2004.
Analysts claim that this is probably due to the increasing numbers of students taking the SAT.
The higher the number of test-takers there are, the lower the average scores tend to be.
Also, the national average this year showed that forty percent of students who took SAT were minorities.
Twenty-five percent came from homes where English was not the primary language spoken.
Conversely, students from affluent families of over $200,000 income showed a whopping 27 point increase in their SATs (Education Week, August 2009)? Isn't it wonderful to be able to afford expensive test-preparation programs? The College Board repeatedly warns the media and the public to NOT rank states, school districts, and individual schools based on these results.
There are demographics and so many other factors that heavily influence scores.
Case in point: Maine experienced a huge decline this year.
However, all of their public school seniors, both college and non-college bound, are now required to take the SAT (thanks, NCLB!).
Again, more students taking the test generally means a drop in test score averages.
I firmly believe in assessing and monitoring the progress of students.
It is a valuable tool in the education process.
But testing alone does not improve teaching.
Testing alone does not improve learning.
And does the public have any idea how much taxpayer's money and educator's time is spent on test materials, test preparation programs, consultants, curriculum schedule overhauling, teacher training, etc.
? Millions of dollars and hundreds of hours! Rather than spending money on testing, we should focus on helping schools meet the linguistic needs of students, paying attention to each of their cultural differences.
Spend the money on specialized training for teachers so that they can accomplish this.
Start enriching the reading programs early, like in pre-school.
More importantly, we should give the schools the support they need to take on this gigantic task.
Sensationalized media headlines with test results have a more devastating influence on property value than one can imagine.
Regardless of the multitude of accomplishments school districts make, headlines on front pages depicting the drop of SAT scores in one school, or a slash in school grade of another, sets it back by a milestone.
The bad reputation has been created, one based purely on test scores.
The city's stigma is born.
There goes housing sales or the attraction of businesses that would bring jobs into the area.
How are we supposed to attract investment in our communities and create the economic boon and jobs that come with it when the media continues to emphasize on the negative labels of schools? We didn't label schools based on test scores back in the day when we went to school.
We didn't place letter grades on them.
Why are we doing it now?
SHARE
