Comments about ‘SAT scores drop, show students not ready for college’

Maybe its because the government recommends kids be in a car seat until they are 12.

Or that most are trying to be so very safe that, that we raised a generation of panzi's.
Most would rather have them safely tucked away in the basement playing video games, watching movies and carbo loading.
Then when a kid gets out on his/her own they can't handle anything.

Maybe throw away the video games, and let your kids grow thick skin, instead of babying them.

When the recent SAT revisions were examined by MIT, they found that the length of the essay was the biggest determining factor in the writing portion score. They could determine the score with 90% accuracy based on that single factor.

I ask, why are we still using this test? I guess one's intelligence is determined by tests now. (sarcasm) I should be asking, why do we test intelligence or 'likelihood of success' to begin with? Tests aren't perfect, yet we use them as an iron fist. Something is wrong with this picture.

I would agree with Northern; if I had to guess whether students spend more after-school hours completing homework assignments or more hours plugged into non-educational technology (of any type), I would guess homework falls by the wayside. I believe that, for the most part, teachers are doing their jobs in the classroom. I also believe (as a parent) that many parents are not helping their children to manage those after-school hours wisely in an academic sense. I myself am guilty of allowing not only gaming and "electronic stupor" to take place, but also letting sports trump all else on occasion.

There is something terribly wrong when 43% of those taking the SAT are found not ready for college, especially when readiness is defined as a 65% chance of doing well, and scores are still dropping, all these years after No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top and all the rest of this garbage. Dont give me this tripe about immigrant and minority parents etc. because I went to high school and college with a lot of first-generation Americans, and first-generation college students and they learned English and did well.

Standardized tests measure your ability and skill at taking standardized tests. I was good at that and had 99 3/4th percentile verbal and 70th percentile math scores, but, like the many good prisoners we produce, theres no market in the real world for the ability to ace standardized tests.

"Just 43 percent of 2011 graduates who took the college entrance exam were deemed ready to succeed in college."

Graduates who took the test? How many graduates didn't take the test? How many didn't graduate at all?

Evidence of federal & state failure:

1. Over thirty years of standardized testing hasn't worked.
2. Placing students in cooperative grouping hasn't worked.
3. State and federal teaching objectives hasn't worked.
4. State and federal teaching strategies hasn't worked.
5. High expenditures haven't worked.
6. Technology hasn't worked.

Why not save money and have schools like it was during "Leave it to Beaver" or "Little House on the Prairie"?

they where TV shows Worf, not real life.

I agree with voice of reason standardized test have repeatedly been shown to be poor indicators of actual future success and knowledge. I cannot figure out why they continue to use the when the research is very clear about their efficacy.

1. I didn't score that high on the SAT--and I have a PhD now!

2. The SAT was based on the old IQ test--that was proven BOTH immensely biased and an inaccurate test. The ACT isn't that much better--

3. ALL standardized assessments are biased--which means their test scores WILL be skewed (YA--I learned something in all those stats classes I took!)

4. As someone who works in education--and has READ the major amount of research into cooperative groups--"worf" has no idea what he/she/it is talking about.

5. To get a more accurate idea of how many students are really ready for college, would mean doing a long-term study following those entering college. Long-term studies are LONG and more expensive to maintain--thus the "quick and dirty" test is given.

6. Quite a few states use the ACT instead of the SAT. Don't wonder why now....

Bottomline you can't force people to do things. You shouldn't force kids to goto school, free agency. If they are not willing to study make them get a job. Stop paying for th cell phone, 2011 Mazda, xbox, internet and WoW subscription. Make them buy there cloths and pay rent.

I'm willing to venture a guess they will get there fannies back to the books. Parents please stop babying your kids. Your handicapping them for for life.

@spring street:

I'm referring to the time era.

So What? Higher education is still and option and not a requirement, other than if you do go to colleges they make money by students being there. Eduction has taken a back seat, way back, so the ponzi schemes schools are running get government money.

College is not for everyone and it is not a part of the NCLB plan. Children have been brainwashed that success is by education, well that is wrong. Success is by choice and ability and desire. Education is a tool only as good as the economy can afford, not what government mandates it to be. Schools have been forced in to racism and discrimination and it is being reflected in the quality of education.

Schools have financial motivation to push children in to things they don't want to do and its destroying the lives of many generations of Americans.

College and testing is irrelevant to the economy and education doesn't create jobs, never has and never will.

Student loans are a big deterrent to higher education. Higher education costs has always been and always will be a deterrent and it designed that way.

MychildrensKeeper, thank you.

What many, including those in education and especially higher ed, continue to neglect is this:

College is not for everyone.

Just imagine if EVERYONE miraculously made it into college and now had professional degrees.

Our nation would collapse.

There are other viable paths to success and college is not the end-all. Until we as a nation realize this and stop the money-grubbing business model that universities have become, we will continue to "fail" a huge portion of our children. They will never all fit the mold.

Worf:

I'm not sure many would like to go back to the "Leave it to Beaver" educational world where special education students were not served and African-Americans could not attend schools with White children. I think education has progressed greatly since then but has the unique challenges of educating all and not choosing what children they don't want to educate.

@eagle:

I went to school with African-Americans in Virginia during the Beaver years. We all had the same textbooks, teachers, etc. I've also taught school for many years with all African-American students. I've never seen where they were so educationally deprived. In my humble opinion, the feds uses groups of people to justify additional funding and programs. This is also true with standardized testing to catagorize students for the same reasons.

Our education is hurting, not because of bad teachers, but corrupt management.

Thanks George, standardized testing has so many problems that I stare at our system and think 'how are we still doing this!?'

Worf, I partially agree. While the fed govt certainly throws money at different 'causes' simply because it helps get votes from minorities, or cause it would look bad to the masses concerned with 'appearing moral' more than actually being moral, and so on.... I believe that we should be focusing on 'entitlement' and what one truly has a 'right to' and where government funding is truly appropriate. We do not give this enough attention and our neglect of this instills ideologies of socialism and communism in people today. While no system is perfect, people feel that everything should be done for them and this just isn't so. I may not be connecting the dots in this post, but I don't have the time to take right now. Hopefully this just makes sense. Either way, not everything should be dished out and we're dishing out far too much where it isn't needed and far to little where we are utterly failing.

I think we all at least agree that how government spends our money is a broken system.

@A voice of Reason:

Some of my opinions for improving education:

1. Reduce paperwork for teachers.
2. Find extra preperation time for teachers.
3. Have one teachers aid for every two classrooms.
4. Eliminate standardized testing and save a ton of money.
5. Make the state and federal government accountable to the schools and the people with regular reports of how much taxpayer money came in and how it was spent.

I agree completely. I have had plenty of teachers, with one especially in mind, who needed aid's the entire time I was with them and didn't even have one.

America is meant to be a virtuous nation, yet everything our unaccountable government does is eating away at anything good in this country. Call me crazy, but I fear we are headed down a hill like an avalanche that won't be stopped.