Dumbing the US Down How the SAT and ACT are vying for the mediocrity high ground. The revamped SAT to be issued first in Spring 2016 does make changes which may turn out to be improvements but it also attempts to compete more effectively with the increasingly popular ACT. Among other alterations, according the Associated Press: Changes in the annual test that millions of students take will also do away with some vocabulary words such as “prevaricator” and “sagacious” in favor of words more commonly used in school and on the job. Understanding of words more commonly used in school and on the job should certainly be expected of college-bound students in our rapidly advancing technological age but prevarication certainly continues unabated, particularly in the skewed and fragmentary perspectives provided by many academic texts and the oft repeated but ill founded assertions to which students are endlessly subjected and which they should be learning to scrutinize and evaluate based upon their interpretation of the evidence. The decision to eliminate terms such as prevarication and sagacious does seem clearly to reflect an appalling lack of sagacity. These are words I wouldnt want any college-bound student to be without. I was asked by a student for further examples of well-crafted improvisatory academic dialog and presented him with this public Youtube talk: Terry Eagleton in conversation with Roger Scruton on culture, politics, literature and the arts from both conservative and liberal perspectives (https://youtube/watch?v=qOdMBDOj4ec). Granted, this exchange would go over the heads of most high school students (though not necessarily of homeschooled students) and is beyond that which the SAT and ACT are expected to test for, but by imposing limits upon the language students are expected to use and understand, such talks as this one are being taken off of the table, and acquiring the ability to understand and engage in them is left entirely unaddressed. Importantly, it is not just the speakers in this video but the entire audience that demonstrates comfortable facility with the vocabulary, language and concepts employed. This is simply an advanced academic discussion and students whose vocabulary is in line with the new SAT will be abysmally unprepared to deal with it. As one who has battled with college textbook editors in an attempt to use prose that has not been reduced to third grade reading level, I have come to understand vividly the deficiencies of the language examples students are expected to learn from in school. Reducing exam expectations to a degree commensurate with meager classroom content is just not the answer. Comments appreciated. K. Titchenell Class page: abacus-es/eie/advancedwriting.html
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 05:46:42 +0000
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