Much of the harm to American education comes in the form of reactions to one thing: The Powers that Be decide that they do not like the results of the test(s).
Obviously, the people who publish the tests - whether you are talking about individual teachers or large professional organizations - take serious measures to confirm that their test:
The SAT (and ACT) have come in for particularly vicious criticisms over time. First they were accused of being "not relevant." That is, it was said that SAT results were not good predictors of college performance. Some adjustments were made, some caveats were released, but then it became apparent (and remains apparent) that they pretty much DO predict college performance pretty well.
Then they said that the tests were "culturally biased." Well, there was a tiny bit of truth in that, and the biases were immediately excised from the tests. Remember that the people who compose these tests are generally Leftists, just like the critics. But they are Leftists with principles.
But the uncomfortable results persist. So now, more and more colleges are saying that they won't require SAT/ACT's, or they won't count them, or that they won't count them as much as previously.
How's that again? We have these tests that have evolved over GENERATIONS to be the most accurate predictor of college performance imaginable (for a one-day thing), a tool that, together with other rational analysis can tell the colleges pretty much how the applicant will perform. But the colleges FORMALLY, OFFICIALLY DON'T WANT TO KNOW THAT!
They want to pretend that other things are MORE IMPORTANT than how the individual applicants are likely to perform in college. So in order to accommodate the fact that they are knowingly going to accept sub-par students, they provide remedial classes, easier coursework, watered down majors, and subjective grading.
And they wonder why a college degree is worth less and less as time goes by.
I think we are all bozos on this bus.
Obviously, the people who publish the tests - whether you are talking about individual teachers or large professional organizations - take serious measures to confirm that their test:
- Is reliable - that it truly tests what it is supposed to test,
- Is repeatable - that if it is administered multiple times, it will yield approximately the same result, and
- Is not biased in some way that favors some test takers over others.
The SAT (and ACT) have come in for particularly vicious criticisms over time. First they were accused of being "not relevant." That is, it was said that SAT results were not good predictors of college performance. Some adjustments were made, some caveats were released, but then it became apparent (and remains apparent) that they pretty much DO predict college performance pretty well.
Then they said that the tests were "culturally biased." Well, there was a tiny bit of truth in that, and the biases were immediately excised from the tests. Remember that the people who compose these tests are generally Leftists, just like the critics. But they are Leftists with principles.
But the uncomfortable results persist. So now, more and more colleges are saying that they won't require SAT/ACT's, or they won't count them, or that they won't count them as much as previously.
How's that again? We have these tests that have evolved over GENERATIONS to be the most accurate predictor of college performance imaginable (for a one-day thing), a tool that, together with other rational analysis can tell the colleges pretty much how the applicant will perform. But the colleges FORMALLY, OFFICIALLY DON'T WANT TO KNOW THAT!
They want to pretend that other things are MORE IMPORTANT than how the individual applicants are likely to perform in college. So in order to accommodate the fact that they are knowingly going to accept sub-par students, they provide remedial classes, easier coursework, watered down majors, and subjective grading.
And they wonder why a college degree is worth less and less as time goes by.
I think we are all bozos on this bus.