American teenagers aren’t stupid…
They don’t bother to work as hard at taking tests they don’t care about:
The dubiousness of these [voluntary, international] test results becomes clear when you compare them to the results of tests that actually do matter for teenagers: high-school exit exams and college boards. Nineteen states now require their students to pass assessments before they can don a cap and gown; seven others are testing students but not yet withholding diplomas. When states begin imposing penalties for failure, it makes a difference—sometimes a big one. Look at Texas: In 2004, results counted toward graduation for the first time, and pass rates on both the math and English portions of the test leapt almost 20 points. According to Julie Jary, who oversees student assessment for the state, no substantive alterations were made to the test. What changed was students’ motivation: When their diplomas were hanging in the balance, they managed to give more correct answers.
20 percent!! The article writer attributes this discrepancy to lazyness on the part of American teens; I prefer to think of it as an advanced understanding of practical economics.
August 8th, 2005 at 8:35 pm
Also, it might be due to teachers more extensively prepping the students for a test that mattered more. I remember taking a statewide standardized
test in HS (I think our school was up for accredidation or something that made this round of tests extra important), and our teachers spent 3 entire days prepping us for the test by going over old exams. Apparantly, they didn’t change the tests much year to year, because the questions (and all the Multiple choice answers) on the actual test were identical to what we had studied in class. Once I realized this, I didn’t even have to read the question, I could recognize the right answer from the multiple choice options. I imagine our statistics that year spiked a bit
August 8th, 2005 at 10:15 pm
Um, he said 20 points. If it’s a high point value test, 20 points isn’t much.
August 9th, 2005 at 12:18 am
Well, he said that the pass rates raised 20 points; I assumed those were percentage points.
August 9th, 2005 at 7:49 am
does this go with the articals that were around a while back on how teachers, in areas with those required tests, were cuting most of their content. instead they were teaching how to pass the and concentrating very narrowly on things they knew would be on the test.