Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > July > 21 > Entry
A sharper No. 2 will solve the world’s problems
So the College Board spent $5 million to have a company evaluate its SAT scoring methods in the wake of thousands of mis-scored tests last school year. What does the company recommend? Some more training, better software, adding some new marks on the score sheets to help line them up better with scanners.
Oh, one big sweeping change was recommended — providing pencils and erasers at test sites!
Critics respond that the recommendations do not address the problems that led to the scoring mistakes. What do you think? Did the College Board get its money’s worth?
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Testing
Comments
By Oldprof
July 21, 2006 8:02 PM | Link to this
Did they get their money’s worth? A better question: if they don’t have sufficient expertise to correct flaws in their own testing procedure, are WE getting our money’s worth—especially for a test that predicts nothing except success in the first year of college, and that prediction is weak.By Mary
July 21, 2006 4:39 PM | Link to this
Seems to me awhile back one of the Dayton Daily News columnists did not seem to understand the significance or meaning of a #2 pencil - that it had to do with hardness and how dark the mark would be. She heard from some readers who did know the significance. In an optical scanning system, a #2 would provide darkness without smearing and could influence the grading acuracy. I think it is a good idea to provide pencils and erasers for the tests. Personally, I think there is too much emphasis on timing the tests and students who approach it as a speed drill look comparatively smarter than they probably really are.