Seattle Schools Community Forum

To note, the press release references a "federal fee reduction program" so that is one discount available to F/RL students for AP testing. I'm still checking about the state and the district. Results released today by the College Board show that the number of students taking the SAT has remained steady but that PSAT and AP participation has increased.

From OSPI: For the 13th straight year, Washington students scored above the national average on the ACT exam, according to results released today.

This Saturday, Jan. 23rd, will be the last time the old version of the SAT will be given. The newly redesigned SAT will be given for the first time in March.   That one will be the one now aligned to Common Core standards.  Test prep companies say yes - it's creating a lot of anxiety (which may help the folks that give the ACT.)

A couple of items to consider. Update 2: SPS teacher (and parent and activist) Jesse Hagopian's essay on why he is opting his 1st grader out of MAP testing.

Despite the lowest reported SAT scores nationally in 10 years, participation rates - across all groups in Washington State - continues to go up. The steady decline in SAT scores and generally stagnant results from high schools on federal tests and other measures reflect a troubling shortcoming of education-reform efforts. The test results show that gains in reading and math in elementary grades haven’t led to broad improvement in high schools, experts say. That means several hundred thousand teenagers, especially those who grew up poor, are leaving school every year unready for college. [ State-by-state SAT score results ] “ Why is education reform hitting a wall in high school?” asked Michael J. Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a think tank. “You see this in all kinds of evidence. Kids don’t make a whole lot of gains once they’re in high school. It certainly should raise an alarm. It is difficult to pinpoint a reason for the decline in SAT scores, but ...

To note: college success is better verified by GPA than SAT or ACT. From the president of Bard College via Time : The SAT needs to be abandoned and replaced. The SAT has a status as a reliable measure of college readiness it does not deserve.   The blunt fact is that the SAT has never been a good predictor of academic achievement in college. High school grades adjusted to account for the curriculum and academic programs in the high school from which a student graduates are. First, despite the changes, these tests remain divorced from what is taught in high school and what ought to be taught in high school.   Second, the test taker never really finds out whether he or she got any answer right or wrong and why.  What purpose is served by putting young people through an ordeal from which they learn nothing? Is the SAT a reasonable representation of the ideals and benefits of learning? No, it makes a mockery of them. The time has come for co...

Update: listening to the NPR story this morning, I heard a few interesting things about this story like: - David Coleman, the head of the SAT, says it will be better aligned to what is being taught in high school.  Fair enough, until you learn that he helped write the CC standards.  Oh. - also, apparently historically, the SAT was NOT supposed to follow high school curriculum End of update. For one thing, the SAT essay will be optional by 2016 - there's a big change.   The SAT essay will have to have accurate data and facts to support the essay which leads me to believe that somehow the essay topics must be given out.  How else can any student have facts at their fingertips broad enough to cover whatever is thrown at them? Here's a handy Ed Week chart outlining the current SAT, the new one and how it aligns with - what else? - Common Core. Here's a link to the LA Times story on this issue. It will be interesting to see what colleges/universities ...