CalTech adds REA (replacing prior EA), extends test blind policy for 2 years

[ucbalumnus]

@TheVulcan

Not sure about India, but China most certainly is, insofar as their performance on IMO, IOI etc can be considered a proxy for the depth of their talent bench. No questions about it. The competition on these events is almost exclusively between the Chinese, Chinese Americans, and a smattering of exSoviets.

The academic elites among China’s huge population may be winning these contests, but overall participation in postsecondary academics is low in China. https://gpseducation.oecd.org/CountryProfile?primaryCountry=CHN&treshold=10&topic=EO says that “Among 25-64 year-olds in China, short-cycle tertiary qualifications are the most common tertiary attainment at 10% of the population followed by bachelor’s degrees at 8% and master’s and doctoral degrees combined with 1%. This is different from the OECD average, where bachelor’s degrees are most common (19%), followed by master’s degrees (14%) and short cycle tertiary qualifications (7%).”

[TheVulcan]

@ucbalumnus

The academic elites among China’s huge population may be winning these contests, but overall participation in postsecondary academics is low in China.

I don’t claim to be an expert on China, but I know it is still very much a developing country with lots of poverty the likes of which most Americans can not fathom.

When I was in India some decade and a half ago, I was shocked to learn that they had 400 million people living without electricity - that is more than the entire population of the United States. Looks like that number fell to about 240 million over the next decade.

So we can’t measure the US and China and India by the same development yardsticks.

But now we really digress…

[TheVulcan]

@TheVulcan

My personal theory - as an exSoviet:) - is that it takes a certain level of authoritarian culture to instill a mindset that is amenable to the rigors involved in studying STEM at the deepest levels.

Dr. Steinberg calls it “authoritative parenting” where the parents are “firm, but warm”.

Link to timestamp:

Why Some Races Outperform Others | Laurence Steinberg | Big Think

[ucbalumnus]

@TheVulcan

@TheVulcan

My personal theory - as an exSoviet:) - is that it takes a certain level of authoritarian culture to instill a mindset that is amenable to the rigors involved in studying STEM at the deepest levels.

Dr. Steinberg calls it “authoritative parenting” where the parents are “firm, but warm”.

Although “authoritative” and “authoritarian” are similar-appearing words, they are different in terms of how they describe parenting styles. Authoritative vs Authoritarian Parenting Styles [Infographic] describes the difference.

[TheVulcan]

Trust me, I am old enough to know the difference between authoritative and authoritarian first-hand, and not just in parenting styles.

My “certain level of authoritarian culture” remark was describing prevailing cultural zeitgeists rather than a specific well-defined parenting style to which you are referring.

That said, your link does point to a certain relevant similarity in the parenting styles as well;)

[mtmind]

Whatever your cited study shows or doesn’t show, it had nothing to do with SAT test scores.

[momofboiler1]

Please get back on topic or start another thread. Thank you.

[DroidsLookingFor]

@mtmind

standardized test scores have little to no power in predicting students’ performance in the first-term mathematics and physics classes that first-year students must take as part of Caltech’s core curriculum.

Question - do I recall correctly that a fair number of these classes at CalTech (1st term? year?) are pass/fail? If so, I can’t help but wonder whether the grades underlying a Pass are in fact how those kids would score if the actual grade counted. IOW there may be some noise in the data. I’m sure the intrinsic motivation level is “high” but they’re still human. If you know that an 86 or whatever is more than enough for a Pass, maybe you settle for the 86 rather than grind for the 90, 95, whatever.