For some reason your article reminded me of the USDA food pyramid (and related guidance), and how it has changed over the years, not often for the good.
The first SAT change I heard about was, I think, in the seventies. With the net result being that test scores, on average, went up about 50 points. On one hand, I see the need to make changes in the tests annually, for various reasons, but I would like to see someone address the meta changes in the test that have taken place over the years. And I wonder how many of the meta changes were driven by the fact that the average IQ of the incoming freshman class, is now significantly lower than that of the class of, say, 1972.
Are you familiar with the Classic Learning Test? It's a rapidly-growing alternative to the SAT with an emphasis on the humanities. Florida's public university system approved it in 2023, and it's gaining ground in other states.
I’ve always hated the industrial pre-college testing complex. I’m a tad bit older than you (!) and don’t remember which test I took or what my score was. While everyone was freaking out about the alphabet soup tests, taking prep classes, retaking tests for better scores, blah blah, blah, I just plain didn’t care. After years teaching community college English, my feelings back in my high school days have only been reinforced time and again. I’ve had far too many students enter my classroom on Day One feeling defeated because of those damned ACTs and SATs. I maintained in my high school years those tests only measured one’s abilities to fill in ovals under duress. What they did not measure, both then and now, is one’s potential as a decent human being with so much to offer the world.
Remember that before the SAT, what happened was that each college gave its own test. Thus favoring those who could travel to them and take a lot of time taking tests.
Honestly, these are not bad questions, and reading graphs and tables is a useful skill. What doesn't make any sense to me is that it has to be one OR the other. Obviously both are important, and both types of questions should be on the SAT.
Well-argued, perceptive and important article, Liza. I hope you find a major periodical to publish it! Curious, isn't it, how mastery of increasingly arcane technical tools is profiling itself as antithetical to substantive understanding? There's a good theme for your next novel!
This is so depressing. I’m grateful Canadian universities do not require the SAT or any equivalent test for undergraduate admissions. My province used to do subject-specific standardized exams (where the English questions were actually about literature), but they even stopped doing that.
But I doubt the humanities are in any better shape north of the border. Canadian high school students are subject to the same broad social and economic pressures as American students. They don’t realize that higher level literacy skills remain essential in many fields.
For some reason your article reminded me of the USDA food pyramid (and related guidance), and how it has changed over the years, not often for the good.
The first SAT change I heard about was, I think, in the seventies. With the net result being that test scores, on average, went up about 50 points. On one hand, I see the need to make changes in the tests annually, for various reasons, but I would like to see someone address the meta changes in the test that have taken place over the years. And I wonder how many of the meta changes were driven by the fact that the average IQ of the incoming freshman class, is now significantly lower than that of the class of, say, 1972.
Oh the humanity!
I had some related thoughts on reading this week: https://brokenhand.substack.com/p/2025-re-post-breathing-in-and-breathing?r=105e3
100% this
Are you familiar with the Classic Learning Test? It's a rapidly-growing alternative to the SAT with an emphasis on the humanities. Florida's public university system approved it in 2023, and it's gaining ground in other states.
I’ve always hated the industrial pre-college testing complex. I’m a tad bit older than you (!) and don’t remember which test I took or what my score was. While everyone was freaking out about the alphabet soup tests, taking prep classes, retaking tests for better scores, blah blah, blah, I just plain didn’t care. After years teaching community college English, my feelings back in my high school days have only been reinforced time and again. I’ve had far too many students enter my classroom on Day One feeling defeated because of those damned ACTs and SATs. I maintained in my high school years those tests only measured one’s abilities to fill in ovals under duress. What they did not measure, both then and now, is one’s potential as a decent human being with so much to offer the world.
Remember that before the SAT, what happened was that each college gave its own test. Thus favoring those who could travel to them and take a lot of time taking tests.
More reason to hate the testing industrial complex
thats like a dystopian short story because its so bad it cant be a really long story type of worst case scenario
Honestly, these are not bad questions, and reading graphs and tables is a useful skill. What doesn't make any sense to me is that it has to be one OR the other. Obviously both are important, and both types of questions should be on the SAT.
BS"D
Well-argued, perceptive and important article, Liza. I hope you find a major periodical to publish it! Curious, isn't it, how mastery of increasingly arcane technical tools is profiling itself as antithetical to substantive understanding? There's a good theme for your next novel!
This is so depressing. I’m grateful Canadian universities do not require the SAT or any equivalent test for undergraduate admissions. My province used to do subject-specific standardized exams (where the English questions were actually about literature), but they even stopped doing that.
But I doubt the humanities are in any better shape north of the border. Canadian high school students are subject to the same broad social and economic pressures as American students. They don’t realize that higher level literacy skills remain essential in many fields.
STEM killed the SAT.