They Just Announced Major Changes to the SAT…and There’s a Tie to Common Core

The Blaze ^ | 3-4-2014 | Dave Urbanski

[SAJ]

There used to be a minimum score of 200 on SAT verbal and math and also the Achievement tests. The old joke used to be, “He’s so dumb that he got 300 on his SATs.” All that was required for the 200 was to print your name.

[Reeses]

if you completely guess and there are 5 choices for each question, you will get a 20%

A smart guesser could do significantly better. The correct answer to multiple choice math problems is often surrounded on either side by decoys, an answer way out in left field, and the idiot trap "none of the above". For example if the answers are 23, 25, 27, 294, none, choosing the middle value 25 is the correct answer about half the time.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I was always able to narrow it down to two if I didn’t know the answer outright. You could usually eliminate one or two grammatically without knowing anything about the subject matter.

[SAJ]

The formula in 1968 was (RightAs - WrongAs / 4) * PtsPerAnswer. PtsPerAnswer varied from test to test in order to bring the max score per test to 800.

[Steve_Seattle]

"what will now be called “Evidence-Based Reading and Writing.”

How many times have I seen "evidence based" in letters-to-the-editor written by liberals? It has become a liberal cliché, often used to mask the fact that some liberal ideas have little or no basis in the evidence.

[nascarnation]

“women and minorities affected most”

“potential NFL/NBA players can submit game highlight videos as an alternative to the SAT”

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

This way if you completely guess and there are 5 choices for each question, you will get a 20%. If wrong answers are penalized you will get a zero if you completely guess.

And I think we can figure out who that was intended to benefit.

[Rodamala]

OMG WTF U ME4N I CN TXT MY ANSWER’S? UR DA BOMB!!!:):):)

[thackney]

And then your average on those should reflect partial knowledge, if enough questions were answered that way.

I liked the system.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

” if you could eliminate a certain number of choices as obviously wrong”

I always looked at the math multiple answers first. By looking at the “spread,” I could tell how much I could round off in the questions to make the math easier and quicker, and still determine the correct answer. I didn’t know about the deductive scoring of guesses, and because I always had so much extra time left over, I answered all questions, some being best guesses.

[steve86]

I got a 1360 the first time I took it

Think that's what I got also, although the math part was only a small contribution to that lol. My brother got all the quantitative genes.

[Sooth2222]

The test was also “re-centered” some years ago; if you were in HS when smoking cigarettes was cool, add 50-100 points to your old score.

[hinckley buzzard]

This will be the second time in my memory that the SAT has dumbed itself down. As before, it is meant to obscure the fact that chronically declining performance reflects the deliberate dumbing of America by the leftwing antiAmerican operatives of the NEA.

[yoe]

THE COMPLETE DUMBING DOWN OF AMERICA!

[Rodamala]

47) You come to work in the morning and find that the previous Barista has left you only 1 pound of Organic Free Trade GMO-Free whole coffee beans. If you ordinarily serve 100 Soy Milk Lattes per 4 hour shift. Assuming you sell only Soy Milk Lattes today, and that each Soy Milk Latte use 1.6 ounces of ground coffee beans, in how many minutes can you put up the “CLOSED - NO COFFEE” sign and go smoke weed in the back?

A) 3 minutes.
B) 24 minutes.
C) Did not go to work that day because I had to go to the CVS for Onestep Plan B.
D) 4 hours.
E) 420 4 LIFE!

[Pearls Before Swine]

The essay section was only in place for about seven or eight years. So, eliminating the essay puts the test back where it was for many years, until about 2005.

The problem with the essay section, according to one of my kids who took it, was that the essay grading was highly subjective, and many graders gave points for volume rather than quality.

Eliminating the penalty and dumbing down the math questions is another matter.

[edcoil]

I have found it is really dependent on the student and what they believe they want to do as to if the SAT or ACT is a better test for them.

The SAT is more of a general business, non-technical student in school and the ACT is more geared to those wanting to head to college in technical subjects.

My son took the SAT, he walked out saying he sucked at it, and only scored around 1890 but he took the ACT, walked out, said he aced it and scored a 31 so take both and see how you do.

The HS generally provide free prep courses, the water polo team did a fund raiser for 10.00 you got the prep course and test.

[driftless2]

"evidence"

I love those liberals who are always "debunking" evil conservative ideas (you know, like working hard might lead to a better life than not working hard.) Of course, those awful conservative ideas/theories are always "debunked" by other libs using typical lib "evidence."

[Starboard]

if you’re not impeached for not upholding the law, why uphold the law?

*********
At this point, I’m wondering what’s holding Obama back from declaring himself in total control. There are really no impediments in front of him. The congress is completely impotent.

[combat_boots]

Somehow, there are many College Board people involved with Common Core