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Friday, October 17, 2008
Too much focus on SAT perfection?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue recently handed out the Governor’s Cup awards to five high schools with the most improved SAT scores. Each winner received a $2,000 grant and a trophy.
Perdue started the competition to get students and schools focused on improving their SAT scores. As we know, Georgia has a history of scoring the lowest or close to bottom.
When a Gwinnett County school won the award a couple of years ago I got emails from parents wondering when the state would give out awards for the most improved graduation rate or most improved daily attendance.
Many people agree the state’s scores are an embarrassment. But is the solution to focus more on the test or the skills students need to learn in all grades to do well on various exams?
Others have also been focusing on the SAT. Baylor University in Texas was criticized for paying its freshmen to retake the SAT. Students who boosted their scores by 50 points got scholarship money.
Critics accused the college of trying to raise the school’s ranking by driving up test scores. College officials have said they will stop the program.
The SAT was never devised as a way to compare schools or states, but that is the way many use them. When did test rankings become more important learning?
