Re: SAT scores down this year

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

I suspect that a couple more mundane factors are at work here, 
explaining a portion of the SAT score decline:

1) Fewer students may be taking the exam more than once because the 
revised version costs 73% more than the "old" exam ($41.50 vs $24). 
Repeat test-takers increase their scores by about 30 points on average. 
Economics 101 "laws" of supply-and-demand would predict students retesting.

2) The extended length of this year's SAT, due largely to the addition 
of the mandatory "Writing" section, may discourage additional students 
from repeating the test.


Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director
FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open Testing

Horace B Lucido wrote:

> It makes one wonder if Amrein and Berliner's analysis of those states 
> with exit exams might predict a more significant SAT score drop...viz:
>
>
> In their report, The Impact of High-Stakes Tests on Student Academic 
> Performance: An Analysis of NAEP Results in States with High-Stakes 
> Tests and ACT, SAT, and AP Test Results in States with High School 
> Graduation Exams ( 2004 ), Audrey L. Amrein and David C. Berliner of 
> Arizona State University state:
>
> The effects of state mandated high-stakes tests on student achievement 
> were established by evaluating student performance on tests that 
> assess the same curriculum domains as are covered by a state’s own 
> high-stakes tests. These other independent measures of student 
> achievement included the National Assessment of Educational Progress 
> (NAEP), American College Test (ACT), Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), 
> and Advanced Placement (AP) assessments..... Analyses of scores and 
> participation rates for the NAEP, ACT, SAT, and AP tests suggest that 
> there is inadequate evidence to support the proposition that 
> high-stakes tests and high school graduation exams increase student 
> achievement….The study concludes from the data that the implementation 
> of high school graduation exams results in a decrease in academic 
> achievement. It was found that after high-stakes graduation exams were 
> implemented, ACT, SAT, and AP scores declined.
>
> Could the 'narrowing of the curriculum' in high stakes test 
> preparation be beginning to show its impact on the SAT etc.????
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Peter Campbell <campbellp@mail.montclair.edu>
> Date: Wednesday, May 3, 2006 7:45 am
> Subject: [arn-l] SAT scores down this year
> To: ARN State <ARN-state@yahoogroups.com>, ARN Main List 
> <arn-l@interversity.org>
>
> > New SAT Mystery
> >
> > The College Board is trying to figure out why many colleges are
> > experiencing declines in their average SAT scores this year.
> >
> > In a memo to admissions officers, the board said that it believed
> > that there was a four-to-five point decline, on average, comparing
> >
> > scores this year to last, excluding the new writing test. A “small
> >
> > additional decline” may be evident when all scores for the year
> > are
> > compiled. Based on the size of the decline, colleges should feel
> > that
> > it is “valid” to compare students’ scores on this year’s exam to
> > those from previous years, the memo said.
> >
> > But many colleges are reporting larger declines — in the range of
> > 10-20 points. And several admissions officers said that they were
> > concerned because other measures of applicant quality — class rank
> > or
> > courses students take in high school — were either holding steady
> > or
> > improving. Typically, admissions officers said, such measures and
> > SAT
> > average scores would rise and fall together. And the College Board
> >
> > had assured colleges repeatedly prior to the changes in the SAT
> > over
> > the last year that score comparability would not be hurt.
> >
> > “It’s certainly curious and unusual,” said Stephen Farmer,
> > director
> > of undergraduate admissions at the University of North Carolina at
> >
> > Chapel Hill, where the average SAT score is down 12 points this
> > year
> > — while all other measures of applicant quality are up. Farmer
> > said
> > that officials of the College Board have been “very diligent” in
> > working to try to figure out why scores dropped and what it means.
> >
> > Similar declines have been reported systemwide at the University
> > of
> > California, which has not seen declines in measures of quality
> > aside
> > from SAT scores.
> >
> > Privately, some admissions officials were less charitable than
> > Farmer
> > is, noting that they were hearing from colleague after colleague
> > about larger drops than the College Board was reporting. For the
> > College Board, any new concern about the SAT couldn’t come at a
> > worse
> > time. The board has been facing criticism, ridicule and at least
> > one
> > lawsuit for scoring errors on the October 2005 SAT, and for a
> > series
> > of announcements in which the acknowledged extent of the scoring
> > errors grew.
> >
> > On Tuesday, Gaston Caperton, president of the board, was defending
> >
> > its procedures at a New York State Senate hearing called over
> > concerns about the accuracy of scores. Caperton’s testimony did
> > not
> > mention the latest concerns.
> >
> > In its memo to admissions officers, the College Board said that
> > the
> > declines may be caused by “changing test taker patterns, including
> > a
> > trend of some students taking the test less frequently.” The board
> >
> > said that “we believe that this decrease in repeat test-taking may
> >
> > account for some of the average score decline” because re-tests
> > commonly increase a score by 30 points on reading and math combined.
> >
> > Farmer of Chapel Hill said that he didn’t think applicants would
> > be
> > hurt because they are competing against one another.
> >
> > But other admissions officials aren’t sure. Bob Voss, dean of
> > admission at La Salle University, in Philadelphia, said he is
> > concerned. His institution saw a 10 point drop. In talking to his
> > colleagues at other campuses, he said, “I haven’t found anyone who
> >
> > thinks it’s true” that the score decline has been as small as the
> > College Board has said. Voss said that his applicants this year
> > are
> > notably improved in class rank.
> >
> > One person’s SAT score and class rank may not correlate as
> > expected,
> > he said. “But you can look at 5,000 of them and it means
> > something,”
> > he said. “I’m seeing scores that are just amazing to me.”
> >
> > And Voss said that many colleges do make decisions based on SAT
> > scores. At his institution, for example, some students who are
> > admitted with relatively low SAT scores are encouraged to enroll
> > in
> > enrichment programs. “We may have put people into that program who
> >
> > didn’t need to be there,” he said.
> >
> > Several admissions officials and high school guidance counselors
> > said
> > that the SAT score situation has been the topic of considerable
> > discussion in the last week or so. Chiara Coletti, a spokeswoman
> > for
> > the College Board, said via e-mail that “not a significant number
> > of
> > colleges” have contacted the board about the issue. She said that
> > nine colleges had alerted the board to declines, and that the
> > board
> > then decided to send out the memo “proactively” to admissions
> > officers, and that not many had since expressed concern.
> >
> > Coletti said that the College Board did not plan to notify test
> > takers at this point of the concerns about the scoring decline, in
> >
> > keeping with the board’s approach of not sharing incomplete cohort
> >
> > results. Some students might find the information on the College
> > Board Web site, she said. It appears there under the headline “206
> >
> > SAT Cohort Averages” on the portion of the site for educators.
> > Admissions officials said that applicants appeared unaware of the
> > issue. “Telling students specifically about average scores to date
> >
> > for a part of their cohort wouldn’t seem to serve them,” Coletti said.
> >
> > — Scott Jaschik
> >
> > The original story and user comments can be viewed online at
> > http://
> > insidehighered.com/news/2006/05/03/sat.