Get back to the basics in school

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Get back to the basics in school Thursday, July 15, 2004

Harold J. Wolfe The Framingham Tab

The SAT is among the oldest and most often used test to measure the final product of our schools, the academic standard of our students. The test is traditionally taken by 85% of high school seniors in Framingham.
The SAT I tests consists of a verbal and math test with a maximum score of 800 in each part for a total of 1600.
See: http://www.collegeboard.com/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2003/html/2003reports.html
An examination of page 3 of the Massachusetts report on www.collegeboard.com, the web site of the company that administers the SAT nationwide, will show that despite 31 long years of effort nationwide, by our would be "educators", the SAT scores have actually declined. SAT scores peaked in 1967.
In 1972, the average total score was 1039 out of 1600. By 2003, the average score had declined to 1026. Note the "Great Decline" in verbal scores (from 530 to 507) that started in the late 1960s due to the unionization of teachers.
Since 1993, we were told that education reform, smaller class sizes, new teaching methods, better teachers, and more computers in the classroom would improve results. None of these have helped over 30 years.
One striking correlation is SAT scores and family income. Higher income parents will motivate their children to their own levels. No educational system, no matter how it is designed, can make up for that which is not given to children in their homes.
Between 1992 and 2003, Framingham's total scores have fluctuated between 1033 and 1085 (current), following the national pattern.
Perhaps a real effort to get back to the basics of reading, writing and 'rithmetic might be in order.
As a community, we spend sixty percent of our resources on thirteen percent of our population (our school aged children). I think this is more than enough.

Get back to the basics in school	Thursday, July 15, 2004
Harold J. Wolfe	The Framingham Tab
The SAT is among the oldest and most often used test to measure the final product of our schools, the academic standard of our students. The test is traditionally taken by 85% of high school seniors in Framingham. The SAT I tests consists of a verbal and math test with a maximum score of 800 in each part for a total of 1600. See: http://www.collegeboard.com/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2003/html/2003reports.html An examination of page 3 of the Massachusetts report on www.collegeboard.com, the web site of the company that administers the SAT nationwide, will show that despite 31 long years of effort nationwide, by our would be "educators", the SAT scores have actually declined. SAT scores peaked in 1967. In 1972, the average total score was 1039 out of 1600. By 2003, the average score had declined to 1026. Note the "Great Decline" in verbal scores (from 530 to 507) that started in the late 1960s due to the unionization of teachers. Since 1993, we were told that education reform, smaller class sizes, new teaching methods, better teachers, and more computers in the classroom would improve results. None of these have helped over 30 years. One striking correlation is SAT scores and family income. Higher income parents will motivate their children to their own levels. No educational system, no matter how it is designed, can make up for that which is not given to children in their homes. Between 1992 and 2003, Framingham's total scores have fluctuated between 1033 and 1085 (current), following the national pattern. Perhaps a real effort to get back to the basics of reading, writing and 'rithmetic might be in order. As a community, we spend sixty percent of our resources on thirteen percent of our population (our school aged children). I think this is more than enough.

Send comments to: hjw2001@gmail.com