The New SAT-Quit Whining

Much has been made of late regarding the new version of the SAT that includes a writing section. The story linked below discusses the issue from the viewpoint of a English as a Second Language student. But this is no ordinary ESL student, this is a young woman who carries a 4.0 GPA at a prestigious Montgomery County Maryland high school and scored 1520 out of 1600 on the old version of the SAT, yet expects to do much worse on the new SAT because of the added writing requirement.

Since my time as an undergrad working in the University of Maryland's Writing Center, I have come to the conclusion that most of America's high school students simply lack the skill and knowledge to express themselves in a coherent fashion. I realize that such a statement represents a blanket indictment of American teenagers, but at Maryland, which during the time I attended was morphing into a top research and academic school, non-ESL students would come to the center with simply atrocious papers, making me wonder what is being taught about the English language and the art and skill of writing in modern high schools.

Arguably the most valuable skill any school can impart is the ability to express oneself in the written form. If the SAT begins to test for writing ability, then high schools will be encouraged more to provide such instruction, if for no other reason than to be able to boast that the school has high SAT scores. I believe that the addition of a writing portion on the SAT should have been done years ago. Leaving aside the question of whether an written sample can be graded on a standardized scale, at least schools will now have something to consider in terms of a student's preparation for the rigors of writing at a collegiate level.

Returning to our 4.0 student. This young lady, according to the article scored at very strong 720 on the verbal. Now she worries about a lowered score with a written segment. To have scored as well as she did, she has proven that she has a solid vocabulary and reading skills--two skills necessary to write well. If her academic instruction at this point did not provide instruction in writing, then the fault is not hers, but the school's.

Finally, I want kids to stop whining about standardized tests. Many things we do in life are not fun, but must be done. Right now, if you want to go to college, you probably need to take the SAT or the ACT. Accept the fact that it cannot be changed and move on. If they change the test, quit whining. TAke the test or don't take the test, but stop complaining.

SAT's English Focus Worries Students (washingtonpost.com)