Do SATs Matter? Study flawed?

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Ivorytickler

While most of our kids do fine in college simply because apples don't fall far from the tree, every year I hear of kids who were at the top of their class flunking out and coming home to go to community college because they can't handle the work load in college. That should not happen in a district as highly rated as the one I teach in. It happens because parents help kids by doing their work for them and help them by policing that they do their work and teachers boost grades to make their own lives easier and then they get to college and they don't know how to do their own work and manage their own time and the professors aren't inflating grades.

What bugs me is the socially awkward student was the smart one who did her own work. Rumor has it the other student is cheating her way successfully through college as she did high school riding on the coat tails of the socially awkward student. This is at a top university.

Seriously, I am very cynical when it comes to grades. I've seen too much.

Based on what you say about your school.....I'd say that your district falls into the category you are talking about--grade inflation and not challenging....

[Ivorytickler]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Based on what you say about your school.....I'd say that your district falls into the category you are talking about--grade inflation and not challenging....

I understand that 9% of our graduating seniors have the distinction of bring valedictorian this year....

Some teachers try to make it challenging but that is met with resistance. I do teach a lot of content because my students come to me, for the most part, prepared but that is starting to slip. I did a lab that required my 9th graders to square numbers and take square roots and they had no idea what I was talking about. They multiplied by two for the squaring part and then asked me what the symbol meant for square roots. This is the first year this has happened.

I would say grade inflation and weakly challenging. There's a little challenge there but the grades are higher than they should be. You don't stay around in this district if they aren't.

[LLN]

We put men on the moon when SATs were rigorous. We designed the Appolo program and ISS with max emphasis on SATs.

Since the first of several "dumb downs" in the early 70s, this country has gone to Hell, we can't even hit the urinal anymore.

But Johnny and Susie and Shaniqua and Devonte are feeling real good about their level of achievement.