SAT writing section: "Fooling the College Board"

Parent Cafe
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<p>Dr. Perelman is right on many accounts. However, should we not play closer attention to the "real" issue:</p>

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The essay is harming students, Perelman said, because it rewards formulaic writing that views the world as black and white, isn't based on any facts, and values a few fancy vocabulary words over sincerity. He also said that while most college instructors work to "deprogram" students from the infamous "five paragraph essay" they learned in high school, the SAT test reinforces that approach.

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<p>In addition, let's look at one comment posted by a College president:</p>

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Apples and myriad oranges
A standardized assessment is just that and in the SAT's case it has a very specific purpose. Whether or not we agree with that purpose is another issue, but purpose seems to be more the focus of criticisms aired here.</p>

<p>It is not the purpose of the SAT to create good writers, yet it appears Prof. Perelman and others would like it to be. It seems to me that the critics are comparing a one-time, laser-focused assessment with learning outcomes that otherwise take years to develop on the part of students. If faculty in high school and college aren?t having more influence on students? writing ability than the SAT, then shame on us.</p>

<p>If the SAT is having the kind of broad influence on student writing that Prof. Perelman suggests, then the SAT is a very powerful phenomenon indeed, well beyond what test-takers and their coaches should allow.

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<p>So, isn't the real issue simply that "Most college instructors [have] to work to deprogram students from [what] they learned in high school?</p>

<p>The sad truth is that the chasm between what is taught in high school and what colleges consider as basic is very large. The College Board has to decide to either test what HS students have been taught or what they should be taught. Unfortunately, one has only to check an AP curriculum and the manner in which it is "delivered" to realize that no solution is imminent.</p>

<p>Dr. Perelman is entirely right in showing the weaknesses of the Writing Test; He does, however, target the wrong culprits by not focusing on the abysmal state of our high school instruction and the complete failure of college educators --and he is to be included in this group-- who should be in the position of CLEARLY establishing and dictating the minimum requirements for a passage from high school to college. </p>

<p>Writing a coherent essay in 25 minutes should not be that hard, as long it is taught correctly, which it isn't. The biggest impediment to reaching such a simple yardstick are a hopelessly confused curriculum and mediocre instruction: High school students who are asked to memorize 12 forms of irony in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are rarely reminded how to spell believe and receive correctly, let alone more difficult words.</p>

<p>Indeed, to the faculty in high school and college, shame on you!</p>

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<p>Hmmmm......obviously I'm too old to have taken the new SAT with the writing portion. But I know from experience that 90% of the final exams I took in college were Blue Book, essay questions, some of which we would know about in advance, some of which we had no idea they were going to throw at us. Maybe the colleges are looking at the ability to be able to write an essay "on the spot" about some unpreconceived topic???</p>

<p>I'm one who's actually glad that they've thrown this portion in. At least from my experience with Blue Book type exams, this ability is something that can translate in many ways. If you know in advance what your essay topic will be, and you've prepared for it, then that is one set of skills. If you're given something that you haven't specifically prepared for, then you have to draw upon another set of skills.</p>

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<p>I don't remember ever writing essays on the spot about some "unpreconceived" topic. All of the blue book exams I remember were specific to writing about course material and were designed to assess comprehension of the material, not writing skills.</p>

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<p>edad, with all due respect....sometimes we would get in advance what the essay questions "might" be, and then they'd throw something else at us....IMHO, being able to write, or talk, on your feet is something you can carry over from college and etc. I didn't absorb those skills, but some of my classmates most likely did.</p>

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<p>Erinsmom,
on the SAT writing (essay) you can make up any kind of rubbish you want and it will fly, as long as you follow the rules. It's graded by a rubric which disregards accuracy of facts.</p>

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<p>The one thing I learned from taking multitudes of blue book tests/writing papers at a large public university......most of the profs want regurgiation at the upper levels. Do I agree with this? Not now, but I am 20+ years older. Did it serve me well? In my world, it did, at the time Would I do it all over again? Yeah, but I am a glutton for punishment.</p>

<p>Doubleplay - In the lower level classes (big U), you might be able to get away with your "rubbish rubric". Not to sound degrading, I'm not. Half the battle is knowing how to give them (being whoever) what they want. Not ideal, I know, but most of success is judged by those who grade, and eventually, pay you. A great part is your ability to BS people into thinking you know what you're talking about. If you can do this on a college test, then fantastic! You're halfway home.</p>

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<p>Erinsmom, I DID go to a public u and you are right, I BS'd my way through more courses than not. But I'm talking about literally making up stuff- nonsensical...it flies. Because the people grading the test are not in it for subject content...at all.<br>
About the BS- I found out fast after I got my first professional job how far it gets you!!</p>

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<p>I wouldn't exactly say "harming" at this point. Helping? No. Giving a ton of significant information? No. I think it could be harmful in years to come if people try to figure out what works and prep more for it, but I'm not sure we've come to the point of widespread harm yet.</p>

<p>I got a 9 the first time, 11 the second time. Didn't prep. The 9 was better. 11 was simplistic thematically but perhaps I made it seem like a little more than it was. That was the competition/cooperation prompt mentioned earlier and I think I only used examples from my life. I pretty much figured out that they read these things in about a minute. If you start bringing in complex ideas that the reader hasn't been exposed to, it might not work out. My first one was about several sides of Truman's foreign policy or something. Better essay? Yeah. Too complex to be read in a very short period of time. A good writer should be able to teach, yes, but we're talking an unnaturally short period of time and they read hundreds of these. IME, the super easy to relate to examples (I used sports and competition between private/public/charter schools) scored better. And maybe that's a reasonable point, that you should be able to analyze your audience and then aim there. But I'm not sure that's completely fair when some people don't know the scoring procedures.</p>

<p>Another slightly annoying thing is that both times my score came up different, i.e. 9 was a 4 from one, 5 from the other, and 11 was a 6 from one and 5 from another. I realize it couldn't be perfect but still. What if I got two readers that gave a 5, or two that gave a 6. A 10 and a perfect score are a fairly different. I'm not really sure what to make of that but it doesn't seem quite so standardized. It honestly doesn't matter that much but I wonder if some of that will change and the scores will start tending to be the same from both graders.</p>

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<p>My lowest SAT was on the writing (I got a 620) and I want to be a writer. I've always done well in English and my MCAS essay was among the best in my grade.</p>

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<p>Despite being an excellent and voracious reader, my son struggled terribly with writing for many years. Our small district refused to classify him, saying his writing test scores still fell within "the norm", even though they were way, way below his other abilities.</p>

<p>He fortunately had a wonderful 8th grade teacher (who was also a college professor) who taught him how to write. He now writes very well, but it is a process of outlining, first drafts, editing, more drafts, editing, using a keyboard, etc. The way he writes does not work well within the limited time frame of the SAT and ACT writing tests. He bombed on both. Luckily on the ACT, he had scored well on the other sections, and the writing does not affect the composite. But I am sure that colleges reading that essay were not impressed. I think if they really want to judge a student's writing ability, test them on how they would organize a paper around a given topic. Expecting students to spit out a polished essay within a short time frame is not indicative of how well a student can write. I write for newspapers, and it took me a long time to learn how to write well quickly!</p>

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<p>"I think if they really want to judge a student's writing ability, test them on how they would organize a paper around a given topic."</p>

<p>I couldn't agree more. I have been saying this for quite some time as well. This is (hello, collegeboard!) the way <em>college</em> operates. Such a test is much more of a simulation, and less susceptible obviously to over-prepping, let alone memorization.</p>

<p>There are so many more ways to approach the testing of writing, but those who design such tests are SO lacking in creativity. I would actually have a separate session for writing. Part I would be as above. Part II would be a sample essay (on a different topic) that is good & of a good length, includes citations, arguments, etc., but needs improvement in argumentation and in organization. Student would be asked to rewrite said essay, and to provide commentary on the reasons for changes.</p>

<p>I've offered additional ideas on some other threads regarding this.</p>

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<p>We should spend a lot less time debating testing and spend a lot more time debating teaching. </p>

<p>Our schools are not producing record numbers of barely literate students and dropouts because of the College Board tests. The testing agencies only identify the symptoms and are not responsible for the shortcomings.</p>

<p>What don't we spend some time discussing what our students do receive as education in their English classes. It is probably worthy of a separate thread, but I believe that few people really understand the depth of the problem, and its true origins.</p>

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<p>^^^...but the point, xiggi, regarding the standardized testing, is that better designed tests measure better the quality of the K-12 educational product. I'm not against discussing the latter, as you know, but that needs to occur simultaneously on a parallel track. In the meantime, colleges & families alike wonder about how to assess the value of a "4.0" GPA. Better, and less prep-friendly, tests can help distinguish one education from another education, one supposed readiness vs. another's -- the <em>applied</em> learning. Along with graded papers sent directly from the high school, there are a number of ways to measure a high school GPA -- ways better, i.m.o., than the current design of the SAT I especially.</p>

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<p>I think standardized testing is fine, but the SAT is not. The ACT needs more love because it focuses more on genuine knowledge and not how well students can see through cheap word play.</p>

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<p>Cbf88, is there a different ACT test? It surely cannot be the one that is currently in existence.</p>

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<p>
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There are so many more ways to approach the testing of writing, but those who design such tests are SO lacking in creativity. I would actually have a separate session for writing. Part I would be as above. Part II would be a sample essay (on a different topic) that is good & of a good length, includes citations, arguments, etc., but needs improvement in argumentation and in organization. Student would be asked to rewrite said essay, and to provide commentary on the reasons for changes.

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<p>I think the problem is that they can't lengthen the test any more than they have really without people revolting. I know some people say that you should be able to take each section on separate days, and perhaps that's true. I can't help but think that would further disadvantage those with less resources who can't get a ride or don't start the testing early enough to sign up for all these separate sessions. It would only widen the achievement gap IMO. And then people will complain when colleges cut slack to those with lower scores for demographic reasons. </p>

<p>I think realistically they could remove some of the writing MC to devote more time to actual writing but I can see the issues with that. Many schools administer the PSAT to all students (or all in certain grades). Not all of course, but it is possible. Maybe the answer is to have a separate writing test like that that could be given through the school, on a regular school day, to all juniors (or seniors early in the year). That would give everyone the same chance to be there. However I'm sure there are logistical concerns with that as there are some schools that don't administer the PSAT I think. </p>

<p>The American style of college prep (AP basically) doesn't necessarily stress writing in examinations, at least not to the extent that IB does. It's a very different focus on what is being assessed. I'm not trying to debate which is "better" - both probably generally are equally good at preparation, I'm just talking about the examinations. The IB exams in English, History, Business, Anthro, etc are completely written. But, that's not going to work as a mass standardized test. Some of the IB methods could work. For example, in the foreign language exams they give you a text and then you write on a question about that text (although it's a letter, speech, article, or diary entry rather than an essay). English also does a blind commentary. Maybe giving a short text and then a question on the text would allow people to produce a better piece of writing by giving them some info rather than having them go "cold." In most writing examinations for a real class, you have an idea of what you're writing about. All our tests in history are essays, but it's different than the SAT because of course you have to assume that the themes we're studying apply to the essay.</p>

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<p>
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The underlying myth of the ACT.

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<p>xiggi: What do you mean? Can you expound on your thoughts about the ACT? I'm not familiar with it, but I was going to follow calmom's advice and have my son take it before he takes the SATs. He does well on all achievement tests and the SAT, but not that great on the writing portion. I'd be interested in your opinion on this.</p>

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<p>I took the ACT for the first time last February for the first time with medium preparation (FYI: I live in very rural ND, taking the SAT is almost unheard of). I received a 35 in English and a 34 in reading skills. (29 on the other two but that's irrelevant)
I received a 7 out of 12 on the writing section. The other sections were in the 96-99 percentile and this was in the 42nd.
Yikes. I'm not sure how the ACT writing is compared to the SAT, but it doesn't sound too terribly different (I believe you get 45 minutes for the ACT?). The way I was taught to write was with setting up an outline, supporting your points and having specific examples; I often revise sentences before I get the wording I like. I just can't do that in the time period given. (I also haven't hand-written an essay since at least 6th grade!)
I'll try though... more preparation next time I guess.</p>

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<p>the ACT writing is significantly different than the SAT W -- read the instructions!</p>

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<p>I took the SAT with the writing in May last year and got a 12 (out of 12) for my essay. I can honestly say that that was the worst essay I have ever written. It was mindless superficial drivel with one historical reference and one literary reference to back up my "argument". I used a few "long words" and some punctuation I would not normally use in an informal essay, and these were, I presume, lapped up by the examiners.</p>

<p>If I ever wrote anything like that for one of my IB classes I would get a grade of 1 or even 0!</p>