[Vision2020] SAT Scores

Thomas Hansen tomh@uidaho.edu
Wed, 27 Aug 2003 13:35:36 -0700


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Mr. Courtney -
 
Could you pleaseenlighten us as to how current SATs have been "dumbed-down",
especially considering that more advanced math classes (Calculus, advanced
trig, etc.) have been introduced into the high school level over the past
several years?
 
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

-----Original Message-----
From: Dale Courtney [mailto:dale@courtneys.us]
Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2003 1:02 PM
To: vision2020@moscow.com
Cc: abacharach@dnews.com
Subject: [Vision2020] SAT Scores
Importance: High


Visionaries,
 


	    Yesterday's Daily News carried a story that the national SAT
scores rose 6 points this year over 2002, with results on the verbal portion
of the exam showing the most significant gains in eight years. This article
is also available online at the Washington
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A47512-2003Aug26?language=printer>
Post.

    But there are two other issues to this otherwise cheerful story.

    First, the types of questions asked in the SAT today are not the same as
in the past. They have been "dumbed-down" and the results "recentered."  For
instance, the current SAT has had the following recent modifications made to
it:

*	The scores have been "recentered" to make the mean score the
midpoint at 500 rather than accepting student performance wherever it should
fall. 


*	This big "recentering" came in 1996 when about 75 points were added
to the verbal and 25 points to the math. 

*	They then went back and recomputed the previous years' numbers and
made them comparable. 

*	Additional time has been provided to complete the math portion, and
calculators are now permitted (which just might have something to do with
modest increases over the years!). 

*	They have removed the challenging antonym sections. 

*	They have removed or changed questions that were thought to be
challenging to some students. 

    This means that the SAT of today is not nearly as challenging as the SAT
of the past. So the news is making an apples-to-oranges comparison at best.

    The second issue is the cost for these SAT results. If we compare the
actual SAT results (ignoring the dumbing-down effect, which only exacerbates
the problem) to the spending per student in the USA, we find the following:

  <http://courtneys.us/MSD/images/SAT.jpg> 

    Note: DPI is the SAT points per dollar of real per pupil expenditure.
The dollar figures are inflation-adjusted expenditures per student on
government education in constant FY 01 dollars.

    Whereas the real cost to educate children in the government schools is
225% of what it was in 1967, the DPI has decreased (i.e., the "bang for the
buck" continues to decrease). 

    These same results <http://www.nber.org/digest/aug02/w8873.html>  were
found by Caroline Hoxby, but she used NAEP scores instead of SAT scores, and
made some further adjustments. In a nutshell: 

Hoxby examines the effect of choice on school productivity by looking at
three recent reforms that have introduced choice into areas that previously
had little: vouchers in Milwaukee, charter schools in Michigan, and charter
schools in Arizona. She looks at the productivity of public schools that
faced increased competition as a result of these reforms, not just at the
productivity of the voucher or charter schools themselves. For instance, she
compares the productivity of Milwaukee's public schools before and after the
voucher program provided competition. As a control group for these schools,
she uses urban public schools in Wisconsin that are located outside
Milwaukee (and are thus immune from voucher competition) but that serve
students similar to those of Milwaukee. She finds that Milwaukee's public
schools raised their productivity quickly and dramatically in response to
competition and that the Milwaukee schools that faced the most competition
raised their productivity the most. Productivity rose because the schools
achieved more while spending the same amount (as opposed to holding
achievement steady while reducing spending). In fact, in the Milwaukee
schools facing substantial competition, achievement rose by as much as 4.7
national percentile points faster per year than in control schools. Such
gains are virtually unprecedented for an American school reform. [emphasis
mine]

    If the Left is really interested in educational results, then they must
first acknowledge that all of their methods of the past (e.g., throwing more
money at the problem) have failed -- and it will continue to fail. Only
school choice and competition will achieve the results that they say they
want. 

 
Best,
Dale


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<DIV><SPAN class=320563220-27082003><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Mr. 
Courtney -</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=320563220-27082003><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 
size=2></FONT></SPAN>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=320563220-27082003><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Could 
you pleaseenlighten us as to how current SATs have been "dumbed-down", 
especially considering that more advanced math classes (Calculus, advanced trig, 
etc.)&nbsp;have been introduced into the high school level over the past several 
years?</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=320563220-27082003><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 
size=2></FONT></SPAN>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=320563220-27082003><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Tom 
Hansen</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=320563220-27082003><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 
size=2>Moscow, Idaho</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
  <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma 
  size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Dale Courtney 
  [mailto:dale@courtneys.us]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, August 27, 2003 1:02 
  PM<BR><B>To:</B> vision2020@moscow.com<BR><B>Cc:</B> 
  abacharach@dnews.com<BR><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] SAT 
  Scores<BR><B>Importance:</B> High<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
  <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN 
  class=000205919-27082003>Visionaries,</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
  <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN 
  class=000205919-27082003></SPAN></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
  <TABLE dir=ltr cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0>
    <TBODY>
    <TR>
      <TD vAlign=top width="1%">
        <P><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></P></TD>
      <TD vAlign=top width=24></TD><!--msnavigation-->
      <TD vAlign=top>
        <P>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Yesterday's Daily News carried a story that the 
        national SAT scores rose 6 points this year over 2002, with results on 
        the verbal portion of the exam showing the most significant gains in 
        eight years. This article is also available online at the <A 
        href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A47512-2003Aug26?language=printer">Washington 
        Post</A>.</P>
        <P>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; But there are two other issues to this otherwise 
        cheerful story.</P>
        <P>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; First, the types of questions asked in the SAT 
        today are not the same as in the past. They have been "dumbed-down" and 
        the results "recentered."&nbsp; For instance, the current SAT has had 
        the following recent modifications made to it:</P>
        <UL>
          <LI>The scores have been "recentered" to make the mean score the 
          midpoint at 500 rather than accepting student performance wherever it 
          should fall. 
          <UL>
            <LI>This big "recentering" came in 1996 when about 75 points were 
            added to the verbal and 25 points to the math. 
            <LI>They then went back and recomputed the previous years' numbers 
            and made them comparable. </LI></UL>
          <LI>Additional time has been provided to complete the math portion, 
          and calculators are now permitted (which just might have something to 
          do with modest increases over the years!). 
          <LI>They have removed the challenging antonym sections. 
          <LI>They have removed or changed questions that were thought to be 
          challenging to some students. </LI></UL>
        <P>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This means that the SAT of today is not nearly as 
        challenging as the SAT of the past. So the news is making an 
        apples-to-oranges comparison at best.</P>
        <P>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The second issue is the <U>cost</U> for these SAT 
        results. If we compare the <U>actual</U> SAT results (ignoring the 
        dumbing-down effect, which only exacerbates the problem) to the spending 
        per student in the USA, we find the following:</P>
        <P><IMG height=471 src="images/SAT.jpg" width=751 border=0 
        NOSEND="1"></P>
        <P>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Note: DPI is the <B>SAT points per dollar of real 
        per pupil expenditure</B>. The dollar figures are inflation-adjusted 
        expenditures per student on government education<B> </B>in constant FY 
        01 dollars.</P>
        <P>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Whereas the <U>real</U> cost to educate children 
        in the government schools is 225% of what it was in 1967, the DPI has 
        <U>decreased</U> (i.e., the "bang for the buck" continues to decrease). 
        </P>
        <P>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; These <A 
        href="http://www.nber.org/digest/aug02/w8873.html">same results</A> were 
        found by Caroline Hoxby, but she used NAEP scores instead of SAT scores, 
        and made some further adjustments. In a nutshell: </P>
        <BLOCKQUOTE>
          <P>Hoxby examines <FONT color=#0000ff>the effect of choice on school 
          productivity</FONT> by looking at three recent reforms that have 
          introduced <I>choice</I> into areas that previously had little: 
          vouchers in Milwaukee, charter schools in Michigan, and charter 
          schools in Arizona. She looks at the productivity of public schools 
          that faced increased <I>competition</I> as a result of these reforms, 
          not just at the productivity of the voucher or charter schools 
          themselves. For instance, she compares the productivity of Milwaukee's 
          public schools before and after the voucher program provided 
          <I>competition</I>. As a control group for these schools, she uses 
          urban public schools in Wisconsin that are located outside Milwaukee 
          (and are thus immune from voucher competition) but that serve students 
          similar to those of Milwaukee. She finds that <FONT 
          color=#0000ff>Milwaukee's public schools raised their productivity 
          quickly and dramatically in response to competition and that the 
          Milwaukee schools that faced the most <I>competition</I> raised their 
          productivity the most. Productivity rose because the schools achieved 
          more while spending the same amount </FONT>(as opposed to holding 
          achievement steady while reducing spending). In fact, in <FONT 
          color=#0000ff>the Milwaukee schools facing substantial 
          <I>competition</I>, achievement rose by as much as 4.7 national 
          percentile points faster per year than in control schools. Such gains 
          are virtually unprecedented for an American school reform. 
          </FONT>[emphasis mine]</P></BLOCKQUOTE>
        <P>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If the Left is <U>really</U> interested in 
        educational results, then they must first acknowledge that all of their 
        methods of the past (e.g., throwing more money at the problem) have 
        failed -- and it will continue to fail. Only school choice and 
        competition will achieve the results that they say they want. </P><!--msnavigation--></TD></TR><!--msnavigation--></TBODY></TABLE>
  <DIV><SPAN class=000205919-27082003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff 
  size=2></FONT></SPAN>&nbsp;</DIV>
  <DIV><SPAN class=000205919-27082003><FONT face=Arial 
  size=2>Best,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
  <DIV><SPAN class=000205919-27082003><FONT face=Arial 
  size=2>Dale</FONT></SPAN></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>

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