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Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Gaming the SATs with truthiness

When College Board announced that they were adding a writing component to the SATs, critics alleged that there was no way to legitimately grade the writing of that many essays each year and that the test would devolve down into writing formulaic essays. Well, now an MIT professor has written a paper outlining what students need to do to game the test and present the illusion of good writing.
Les Perelman, the professor, is among the many writing experts who fear that the new essay portion of the SAT and the push to use standardized testing for writing are harming American students. Perelman has had various skirmishes with the College Board on the issue, with each side offering analyses of the test. Perelman helped a student (over the age of 18 and with informed consent, he is quick to add) take the SAT in October, intentionally paying no attention to whether any historical facts he cited were correct, following certain formulas (including examples from the arts and history, but not worrying whether they make sense), and including key words that the SAT scoring teams are thought to favor ("plethora” and “myriad” are both considered tops — and this essay featured both).
Here is an example from the paper to demonstrate how the student can get the facts wrong but still impress enough to get them a good grade.
A major reason why cooperation is a preference to competition is because competition induces civil struggle at a time of crisis while cooperation reduces tension. In the 1930’s, American businesses were locked in a fierce economic competition with Russian merchants for fear that their communist philosophies would dominate American markets. As a result, American competition drove the country into an economic depression and the only way to pull them out of it was through civil cooperation. American president Franklin Delenor Roosevelt advocated for civil unity despite the communist threat of success by quoting ‘the only thing we need to fear is itself,’ which desdained competition as an alternative to cooperation for success. In the end, the American economy pulled out of the depression and succeeded communism.
This essay scored a 5 out of 6 on the SATs. I suspect that the graders either don't know enough history to grade on whether or not the student gets the history correct. So College Board has explicitly told the graders not to concern themselves with whether or not the historical evidence that the student uses is accurate or not. As Perelman argues, this emphasis on formulaic writing is hurting students.
The essay is harming students, Perelman said, because it rewards formulaic writing that views the world as black and white, isn’t based on any facts, and values a few fancy vocabulary words over sincerity. He also said that while most college instructors work to “deprogram” students from the infamous “five paragraph essay” they learned in high school, the SAT test reinforces that approach. Perelman and others noted that the problem isn’t limited to the time students spend actually taking the SAT, but that many students devote months or years of study with coaching services to learning how to write the way the College Board wants — and with students fearful that a poor score will hurt their chances of college admission, they focus on that kind of writing.

He drew particular attention to the way the College Board has openly stated that students are not penalized for not getting their history correct. “This is a total disregard for the facts,” he said.
Great. Just what this country needs - students being encouraged to present the illusion of using facts and evidence to support their arguments but not having to worry about whether that evidence is either accurate or applicable to what they're supposedly arguing. "To seem rather than to be" to twist the North Carolina motto is more important than actually constructing a logical and supported argument. Then sprinkle in a few good vocabulary items and you've achieved the illusion of good writing. Not only are such standards harming students' writing skills, but also their thinking skills.
Labels: Education

posted by Betsy Newmark permalink 7:05 AM 0 comments

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When College Board announced that they were adding a writing component to the SATs, critics alleged that there was no way to legitimately grade the writing of that many essays each year and that the test would devolve down into writing formulaic essays. Well, now an MIT professor has written a paper outlining what students need to do to game the test and present the illusion of good writing.

Les Perelman, the professor, is among the many writing experts who fear that the new essay portion of the SAT and the push to use standardized testing for writing are harming American students. Perelman has had various skirmishes with the College Board on the issue, with each side offering analyses of the test. Perelman helped a student (over the age of 18 and with informed consent, he is quick to add) take the SAT in October, intentionally paying no attention to whether any historical facts he cited were correct, following certain formulas (including examples from the arts and history, but not worrying whether they make sense), and including key words that the SAT scoring teams are thought to favor ("plethora” and “myriad” are both considered tops — and this essay featured both).

Here is an example from the paper to demonstrate how the student can get the facts wrong but still impress enough to get them a good grade.

A major reason why cooperation is a preference to competition is because competition induces civil struggle at a time of crisis while cooperation reduces tension. In the 1930’s, American businesses were locked in a fierce economic competition with Russian merchants for fear that their communist philosophies would dominate American markets. As a result, American competition drove the country into an economic depression and the only way to pull them out of it was through civil cooperation. American president Franklin Delenor Roosevelt advocated for civil unity despite the communist threat of success by quoting ‘the only thing we need to fear is itself,’ which desdained competition as an alternative to cooperation for success. In the end, the American economy pulled out of the depression and succeeded communism.

This essay scored a 5 out of 6 on the SATs. I suspect that the graders either don't know enough history to grade on whether or not the student gets the history correct. So College Board has explicitly told the graders not to concern themselves with whether or not the historical evidence that the student uses is accurate or not. As Perelman argues, this emphasis on formulaic writing is hurting students.

The essay is harming students, Perelman said, because it rewards formulaic writing that views the world as black and white, isn’t based on any facts, and values a few fancy vocabulary words over sincerity. He also said that while most college instructors work to “deprogram” students from the infamous “five paragraph essay” they learned in high school, the SAT test reinforces that approach. Perelman and others noted that the problem isn’t limited to the time students spend actually taking the SAT, but that many students devote months or years of study with coaching services to learning how to write the way the College Board wants — and with students fearful that a poor score will hurt their chances of college admission, they focus on that kind of writing.

He drew particular attention to the way the College Board has openly stated that students are not penalized for not getting their history correct. “This is a total disregard for the facts,” he said.

Great. Just what this country needs - students being encouraged to present the illusion of using facts and evidence to support their arguments but not having to worry about whether that evidence is either accurate or applicable to what they're supposedly arguing. "To seem rather than to be" to twist the North Carolina motto is more important than actually constructing a logical and supported argument. Then sprinkle in a few good vocabulary items and you've achieved the illusion of good writing. Not only are such standards harming students' writing skills, but also their thinking skills.

Labels: Education

posted by Betsy Newmark permalink 7:05 AM 0 comments

Comments: Post a Comment

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Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Gaming the SATs with truthiness

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HOME Betsy neither necessarily uses, nor endorses, the products advertised on this site. The truth about Avesil Cheap Hosting Atlanta Bankruptcy Attorney Dallas Bankruptcy Attorney Wikio Get exclusive travel deals and book discount cheap flights Online Bachelors Degree Comments from an AP history and government teacher in Raleigh, NC. e-mail betsynewmark AT gmail.com Commissions earned from selling items through Amazon will go towards buying materials for my classes. Thank you. Site Feed		Tuesday, March 27, 2007 Gaming the SATs with truthiness When College Board announced that they were adding a writing component to the SATs, critics alleged that there was no way to legitimately grade the writing of that many essays each year and that the test would devolve down into writing formulaic essays. Well, now an MIT professor has written a paper outlining what students need to do to game the test and present the illusion of good writing. Les Perelman, the professor, is among the many writing experts who fear that the new essay portion of the SAT and the push to use standardized testing for writing are harming American students. Perelman has had various skirmishes with the College Board on the issue, with each side offering analyses of the test. Perelman helped a student (over the age of 18 and with informed consent, he is quick to add) take the SAT in October, intentionally paying no attention to whether any historical facts he cited were correct, following certain formulas (including examples from the arts and history, but not worrying whether they make sense), and including key words that the SAT scoring teams are thought to favor ("plethora” and “myriad” are both considered tops — and this essay featured both). Here is an example from the paper to demonstrate how the student can get the facts wrong but still impress enough to get them a good grade. A major reason why cooperation is a preference to competition is because competition induces civil struggle at a time of crisis while cooperation reduces tension. In the 1930’s, American businesses were locked in a fierce economic competition with Russian merchants for fear that their communist philosophies would dominate American markets. As a result, American competition drove the country into an economic depression and the only way to pull them out of it was through civil cooperation. American president Franklin Delenor Roosevelt advocated for civil unity despite the communist threat of success by quoting ‘the only thing we need to fear is itself,’ which desdained competition as an alternative to cooperation for success. In the end, the American economy pulled out of the depression and succeeded communism. This essay scored a 5 out of 6 on the SATs. I suspect that the graders either don't know enough history to grade on whether or not the student gets the history correct. So College Board has explicitly told the graders not to concern themselves with whether or not the historical evidence that the student uses is accurate or not. As Perelman argues, this emphasis on formulaic writing is hurting students. The essay is harming students, Perelman said, because it rewards formulaic writing that views the world as black and white, isn’t based on any facts, and values a few fancy vocabulary words over sincerity. He also said that while most college instructors work to “deprogram” students from the infamous “five paragraph essay” they learned in high school, the SAT test reinforces that approach. Perelman and others noted that the problem isn’t limited to the time students spend actually taking the SAT, but that many students devote months or years of study with coaching services to learning how to write the way the College Board wants — and with students fearful that a poor score will hurt their chances of college admission, they focus on that kind of writing. He drew particular attention to the way the College Board has openly stated that students are not penalized for not getting their history correct. “This is a total disregard for the facts,” he said. Great. Just what this country needs - students being encouraged to present the illusion of using facts and evidence to support their arguments but not having to worry about whether that evidence is either accurate or applicable to what they're supposedly arguing. "To seem rather than to be" to twist the North Carolina motto is more important than actually constructing a logical and supported argument. Then sprinkle in a few good vocabulary items and you've achieved the illusion of good writing. Not only are such standards harming students' writing skills, but also their thinking skills. Labels: Education posted by Betsy Newmark permalink 7:05 AM 0 comments Comments: When College Board announced that they were adding a writing component to the SATs, critics alleged that there was no way to legitimately grade the writing of that many essays each year and that the test would devolve down into writing formulaic essays. Well, now an MIT professor has written a paper outlining what students need to do to game the test and present the illusion of good writing. Les Perelman, the professor, is among the many writing experts who fear that the new essay portion of the SAT and the push to use standardized testing for writing are harming American students. Perelman has had various skirmishes with the College Board on the issue, with each side offering analyses of the test. Perelman helped a student (over the age of 18 and with informed consent, he is quick to add) take the SAT in October, intentionally paying no attention to whether any historical facts he cited were correct, following certain formulas (including examples from the arts and history, but not worrying whether they make sense), and including key words that the SAT scoring teams are thought to favor ("plethora” and “myriad” are both considered tops — and this essay featured both). Here is an example from the paper to demonstrate how the student can get the facts wrong but still impress enough to get them a good grade. A major reason why cooperation is a preference to competition is because competition induces civil struggle at a time of crisis while cooperation reduces tension. In the 1930’s, American businesses were locked in a fierce economic competition with Russian merchants for fear that their communist philosophies would dominate American markets. As a result, American competition drove the country into an economic depression and the only way to pull them out of it was through civil cooperation. American president Franklin Delenor Roosevelt advocated for civil unity despite the communist threat of success by quoting ‘the only thing we need to fear is itself,’ which desdained competition as an alternative to cooperation for success. In the end, the American economy pulled out of the depression and succeeded communism. This essay scored a 5 out of 6 on the SATs. I suspect that the graders either don't know enough history to grade on whether or not the student gets the history correct. So College Board has explicitly told the graders not to concern themselves with whether or not the historical evidence that the student uses is accurate or not. As Perelman argues, this emphasis on formulaic writing is hurting students. The essay is harming students, Perelman said, because it rewards formulaic writing that views the world as black and white, isn’t based on any facts, and values a few fancy vocabulary words over sincerity. He also said that while most college instructors work to “deprogram” students from the infamous “five paragraph essay” they learned in high school, the SAT test reinforces that approach. Perelman and others noted that the problem isn’t limited to the time students spend actually taking the SAT, but that many students devote months or years of study with coaching services to learning how to write the way the College Board wants — and with students fearful that a poor score will hurt their chances of college admission, they focus on that kind of writing. He drew particular attention to the way the College Board has openly stated that students are not penalized for not getting their history correct. “This is a total disregard for the facts,” he said. Great. Just what this country needs - students being encouraged to present the illusion of using facts and evidence to support their arguments but not having to worry about whether that evidence is either accurate or applicable to what they're supposedly arguing. "To seem rather than to be" to twist the North Carolina motto is more important than actually constructing a logical and supported argument. Then sprinkle in a few good vocabulary items and you've achieved the illusion of good writing. Not only are such standards harming students' writing skills, but also their thinking skills. Labels: Education posted by Betsy Newmark permalink 7:05 AM 0 comments Comments: Post a Comment