Sophomore I: Joining the Conversation

Sophomore I: Joining the Conversation

THE DEBATE/CONVERSATION:

WHY DOES THE SAT ENDURE?

INTRODUCTION ON THE DEBATE:

Twenty students in New York have been accused of cheating on the SAT. Meanwhile, courses, books and tutoring to help students improve their scores on college-entrance exams are more popular than ever.

If, as critics claim, the test can be gamed, why are the scores still so meaningful to college admissions officials, and does the SAT put students who can’t afford to take prep classes at a disadvantage?

DEBATER #1:

Alan T. Paynter is an assistant director of admissions and the coordinator of multicultural recruitment for Dickinson College in Carlisle, Penn., which makes test score submissions optional.

One Piece in the Process

December 4, 2011

Test scores are merely one piece of a student’s record that college admissions officers consider when reviewing applications. For some students, the focus and pressure placed on them to perform well on the test is so great that they miss out on highlighting the other areas we consider -- the things that help build our campus communities and not just our profile.

Highlight those aspects of your record in which you are not at a disadvantage, like extracurricular activities and class performance.

Students should not have to feel at a disadvantage because they cannot afford test prep services and therefore drive themselves crazy trying to figure out how they will ace this test that appears to be holding their dreams hostage. Or worse, these students choose to not apply to the colleges at the top of their list because of test scores alone. I’ve even seen some students not apply to colleges at all, which is truly heartbreaking.

I would much rather see students highlight those aspects of their record in which they are not at a disadvantage, like their extracurricular activities and performances in class. They also should focus on protecting their grade point average. In as much as students try to impress a college or university, they also want to distinguish themselves in the pool of applicants.

Twenty years ago, it was rare to find a low-income student or a student of color with an 1100+ SAT score (out of 1600). Today, it’s common to find sharp students from those same backgrounds with middle 1200's and higher. This process is about highlighting your strengths and finding your right fit. So what else are you bringing to the table? Or as a colleague of mine always says, “show us the person you are, and will be, not just the test taker you were, and don’t need to be.”

DEBATER #2:

David Z. Hambrick is an associate professor of psychology at Michigan State University. His research concerns individual differences in cognitive abilities and complex skills.

A Good Intelligence Test

UPDATED DECEMBER 16, 2011, 2:31 PM

The SAT works for its intended purpose — predicting success in college. This isn’t to say that the SAT is perfect. You can probably think of someone who did poorly on the SAT and yet graduated summa cum laude from college. You can probably also think of someone who did spectacularly well on the SAT but who flunked out of college after a semester. Many factors not captured by the SAT — like personality, motivation and discipline — contribute to success in college. But, relatively speaking, the SAT works well.

SAT preparation courses appear to work, but the gains are small — on average, no more than about 20 points per section.

The SAT captures more than a narrow range of skills, important only in the first year or two of college. Large-scale meta-analyses by researchers at the University of Minnesota have found that SAT performance is as good of a predictor of overall college grade point average as it is of freshman grade point average, and Vanderbilt researchers David Lubinski and Camilla Benbow have documented that the SAT predicts life outcomes well beyond the college years, including income and occupational achievements.

Furthermore, the SAT is largely a measure of general intelligence. Scores on the SAT correlate very highly with scores on standardized tests of intelligence, and like IQ scores, are stable across time and not easily increased through training, coaching or practice. SAT preparation courses appear to work, but the gains are small — on average, no more than about 20 points per section.

This debate is ultimately about intelligence and its modifiability — and the question of whether it is fair to use people’s scores on what is essentially an intelligence test to make decisions that profoundly affect their lives. If that makes us all uncomfortable, that’s just too bad.

DEBATER #3:

Paul Siemens is the director of Advantage Testing of Los Angeles. He has tutored hundreds of students in New York City and Los Angeles in many academic subjects and standardized tests.

Not an I.Q. Test

UPDATED DECEMBER 5, 2011, 11:46 AM

Thoughtfully constructed tests represent powerful opportunities for learning. Any test, by definition, asks students to demonstrate what they know. College entrance examinations are no different. By asking applicants to take these tests, colleges and universities encourage prospective students to prepare themselves more fully for the college experience.

Students of means continue to have greater access to educational resources and opportunities, but that is a societal issue.

Both the SAT and ACT assess knowledge of vocabulary, grammar and math, while exercising a student’s reading and problem-solving abilities. Such skills are not merely helpful in high school academics but critical for success in college and in life. There are no "tricks" or "shortcuts" a tutor can impart that will circumvent the difficulty of the questions. The only way to prepare successfully for these tests is to apply the hard work that is at root in any successful academic endeavor.

In the case of college entrance exams, such long-term rigorous preparation includes expanding vocabulary; understanding sentence structure; mastering fundamental arithmetic, geometric and algebraic concepts and definitions; and becoming a more critical reader and a more creative problem-solver. A student who fully engages in this process will undoubtedly improve her test scores and gain invaluable, practical knowledge that will make her a better college student.

University-level entrance exams are not intended as intelligence tests, and for good reason: to the extent it can be measured, intelligence is a limited predictor of academic success at that level. Colleges aren’t simply looking to enroll the smartest students; rather they are seeking mature, talented, well-rounded, motivated, service-oriented and accomplished students of every background. Standardized tests provide a reasonably reliable barometer of the extent to which a student has been able to master the general high school curriculum in a way that will prepare her well for college.

It is true that students of means continue to have greater access to educational resources and opportunities. That is a societal issue. In response, college admissions departments have always sought to evaluate a student’s credentials and achievements against that student's perceived opportunities. They maintain rigorous expectations of a student who has grown up with many privileges, and reasonably modified expectations of students who have overcome perceived disadvantages. At Advantage Testing, we are committed to providing financial aid and pro-bono tutoring to economically disadvantaged students and those who have historically been underrepresented in fields of higher learning.

THE DEBATE/CONVERSATION: SHOULD THE SCHOOL DAY BE LONGER?

INTRODUCTION ON THE DEBATE:

Michael Appleton for The New York Times

A student in the Bronx takes a nap before the start of the school day earlier this month.

Many education reform advocates are pushing to lengthen the school day, not only as a way to increase teaching time and offer extra instruction and enrichment, but also to accommodate working parents. Charter programs like the KIPP schools have promoted the longer day, and it is being accepted by some urban public schools, notably in Chicago.

When and where does it make sense to institute a longer school day, and how should it be designed? While this change may benefit children from disadvantaged backgrounds, providing a social support system, would it help other American students if they had to spend more time in school, given what we know about how they learn?

DEBATER #1:

Geoffrey Canada is president and chief executive officer of the Harlem Children’s Zone and president of the Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy Charter Schools.

Help for Parents and Society

UPDATED JANUARY 4, 2013, 1:51 PM

The evidence keeps mounting that America is no longer a leader when it comes to educating its children. The perilous situation is exposed with each new report on the data. The National Assessment of Educational Progress shows little improvement over the decades. The black-white achievement gap is as wide as ever. SAT scores are declining. I am convinced that one of the reasons is that the school day and year are too short. Without additional time, it is virtually impossible for students behind grade level -- particularly poor and minority students -- to catch up.

Longer school days can lead to fewer crimes committed by young people and a decline in teen pregnancy.

An extended school day gives administrators the ability to ensure children get a well-rounded education. Many schools today are sacrificing social studies, the arts and physical education so children can cover basic subjects like math, English and science. This is hurting children across America, depriving them of the chance to find discipline and self-expression through the arts; and we should be ashamed to cut physical education while our children face an obesity epidemic.

Extending the school day would also help families. In two-parent households, women have increasingly entered the workplace, and in single-parent households, there is even more of a need for the adults to work. That means parents do not fully control their own schedule and have to scramble to find high-quality after-school options.

What happens when children are not engaged in enriching activities is well-documented: crimes committed by youth in the hours immediately after school soar, as do teen pregnancies. These hours can either provide an opportunity for children to grow or to get bored and drift into self-destructive behavior.

Meanwhile, our global competitors are keeping students in school longer, giving them a better shot at success. Failing to do our best to educate all of America’s children is a mistake that will hurt this country for years to come.

DEBATER #2:

Vicki Abeles is a filmmaker, lawyer and mother of three. She is the co-director and producer of the documentary “Race to Nowhere: The Dark Side of America’s Achievement Culture.”

Quality vs. Time in the Classroom

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 27, 2011, 1:51 PM

Andrew_Shurtleff/The Daily Progress, via Associated Press

High school students heading to classes in Louisa County, Va.

Many of our children are already stretched to unhealthy breaking points, loaded down with excessive homework, extracurricular activities and outside tutoring because they’re led to believe high test scores, a slew of Advanced Placement classes and a packed résumé are their ticket to college and success. This has led to an epidemic of anxious, unhealthy, sleep-deprived, burned-out, disengaged, unprepared children -- and overwhelmed and discouraged teachers.

I have found no compelling research that supports the proposition that a longer school day improves educational outcomes. One only has to look at countries like Finland, where students achieve higher test scores with less instruction time and less homework than in our country. The real issue is the quality of the education we’re providing, not the amount of hours spent in a classroom.

We need healthier, more balanced, more engaging and effective school days, not longer ones.

Young people need time outside of school to develop as whole people. They need time to grow creatively, physically, socially and emotionally, not just academically. A large part of a child’s learning occurs outside the classroom, through play, reading, family dinnertime interaction, community participation, volunteering and working part-time jobs. Instead of lengthening the school day, we should invest resources so that children in every community have access to opportunities for after-school programs offering arts, sports and other activities that support the growth of the whole child, as well as working parents.

Further, by ensuring that school work is completed at school where there are teachers to support learning -- alleviating the “second shift” for children and working parents created by homework -- we can enhance the education of our children and the well-being of children and families.

The key is creating a healthier, more balanced, more engaging and effective school day, not a longer one.

DEBATER #3:

Vern Williams teaches honors math at Longfellow Middle School in Fairfax County, Va. He was named to the National Mathematics Advisory Panel in 2006.

Let Teachers Teach

UPDATED DECEMBER 10, 2012, 12:09 PM

Adding more time to the school day might be appropriate under certain conditions, but I can think of only a few.

Teachers, students and parents are usually promised that extra time spent in school will result in increased learning opportunities and measurable academic results in both core subjects and electives. However, in the real world of teaching and learning, this will occur only if the extra time is spent on activities focused on learning real academic content.

If teachers were given unencumbered classroom time to actually teach, perhaps the argument for a longer school day would become moot.

Much of the current rationale for extending the school day relies on the assumption that some students, especially those in low-performing schools, need more time to prepare for state testing and would thus receive extra tutoring and homework help. But under the current school day, if teachers were given unencumbered classroom time to actually teach, based on their best professional judgment and expertise, perhaps the argument for a longer school day would become moot. I fear that if the school day is extended without real input from both core subject and elective teachers, the extra time might be used for activities that are nothing more than glorified recess or unstructured study halls.

Other nations that have longer school days and years actually use the extra time on serious academic ventures for students and provide quality planning time for teachers. Teachers in the United States spend countless unpaid hours working with students, communicating with parents, grading papers and planning. Would a longer school day reduce the amount of extra teaching duties, which seem to expand each year that I teach? Will it reduce the homework load for students since they will be spending more time in school? Will teachers be adequately compensated? Those are all questions that need to be answered before decisions are made concerning the length of the school day.

In fact extending the school day should not even be considered until teachers are allowed to use the current school day structure for purposes solely related to the education of students.

DEBATER #4:

Mary A. Carskadon, a professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University, directs studies of adolescents in the sleep research lab at the E.P. Bradley Hospital in Providence.

Let Students Sleep

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 27, 2011, 1:51 PM

Michael Appleton for The New York Times

First graders in New York City waiting for classes to begin.

day may have unintended and counterproductive consequences if longer days are implemented by moving the school bell earlier or by pushing more homework later into the night. Young children are biologically primed for "early to bed and early to rise," but as children pass through middle school and into high school, biological processes keep them up later.

Even without a move to longer school days, many adolescents are already in trouble because they get too little sleep; their biological propensity to stay up combines with other factors, like parents who have largely ceded responsibility for setting bedtimes and the pernicious, sleep-defeating influence of distracting technology in their bedrooms.

The negative effects of insufficient sleep on learning and academic engagement are quite real. Sleep affects the learning process at several key stages. In the first place, adequate sleep prepares youngsters to learn by setting the stage for the attention, motivation and alertness that facilitate information acquisition and processing. Thus, students whose sleep is adequate are better prepared to take part in the activities of their school days.

The negative effects of insufficient sleep on learning and academic engagement are quite real.

Current research also provides strong support that good sleep after learning actually enhances the gains that occur the day before. Sleep amplifies, consolidates, and improves not only the process of acquisition, but also storage of information. To round out the story, sleep enhances next-day memory retrieval and cognitive processing.

I don’t see inherent problems with longer school days if they do not impinge on children’s opportunities to sleep, either through forcing them to wake up earlier or extending their waking days with more homework. But another way to help kids learn would be not to extend hours in school, but to extend hours spent sleeping at night. More sleep might help the teachers, too!