The Dumbest Generation?

[ABM]

I don't think that's nearly as bad as some people do. Education is a subjective term (at least, imho it is). Some of the "smartest" people I know are some of the least "educated" people I know.

and vice versa. Some of the stupidest people I know are far more educated than you or I am.

True enough.

(time to re-queue Back To School. )

 

[barfo]

I don't think that's nearly as bad as some people do. Education is a subjective term (at least, imho it is). Some of the "smartest" people I know are some of the least "educated" people I know.

and vice versa. Some of the stupidest people I know are far more educated than you or I am.

I wish I'd been smart enough to leave school sooner.

barfo

 

[julius]

I wish I'd been smart enough to leave school sooner.

barfo

I wish I was smart enough to have invented facebook.

or marry a really smart hot woman who likes frumpy old guys who are balding.

 

[PapaG]

The problem is that the SAT only tests a narrow range of intelligence. It should be expanded to include woodwork, cooking, sewing, auto tech, and most of all, video gaming. Modern teenagers are smarter than before but tests have not kept up. I blame old people. Old people don't like teenagers and refuse to change the SAT. The SAT only takes up a Saturday morning. Why not make it a weeklong affair and test everything. I'd have made Harvard if they'd tested my anklebreaking crossover.

I agree. Let's add questions on Call of Duty 4 and living at home until they're 30. Who needs math and English to assess future academic achievement?

We're only 5 years away from living our entire lives as avatars in a Matrix-like game, and the ability to learn quickly and have excellent hand-eye coordination will be more important than some algebra and verb tenses.

 

[PapaG]

I wish I was smart enough to have invented facebook.

I wish I was smart enough to steal the idea of Facebook from some rich Repubulican twins at Harvard, and then betray my initial source of funding when I moved to the Silicon Valley. Those damn scruples, I tell ya!

I shoulda been a sociopath...

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

 

[julius]

I wish I was smart enough to steal the idea of Facebook from some rich Repubulican twins at Harvard, and then betray my initial source of funding when I moved to the Silicon Valley. Those damn scruples, I tell ya!

I shoulda been a sociopath...

they could've been rich potato salesmen for all I care.

 

[PapaG]

I have to admit that the Vinklewoss twins look like the definition of pretentious douchebags.

Zuckerberg still looks like a pipsqueak who squats to pee, though.

 

[MARIS61]

Do you think this is unrelated to the U.S.'s falling rank in math and science compared to other nations?

I think both the usefullness of SAT's AND the supposed US's falling "rank" in math and science compared to other nations are debatable.

 

[santeesioux]

I didn't even take the SAT's, and now only 3 years later Texas Tech is chopping at the bits to get me in their school.

[video=youtube;JZNSaCJiixw]

 

[TripTango]

Let's see if I follow your logic here:

- The SAT is just a test-taking test that is just a reflection of who studied for it and took classes to prepare for it.
- More students today prepare and take classes for the SAT compared to years ago.
- The SAT scores are lower now than they were compared to years ago.
- But that doesn't mean anything with respect to knowledge

Doesn't compute.

It probably doesn't compute because none of those bullet points accurately reflect what I've said.

EDIT: Here's what I'm saying, neatly bulletized for your pleasure.

- The SAT measures many things, including core knowledge, reading comprehension, overall intelligence, and test-taking abilities. Sorting out the impact of all these individual factors on any student's score is tough/impossible. The fact that simply learning strategies for taking the test can improve a students score on a section by 100 points or more (equal to the standard deviation!) indicates to me that this may be the single most important factor. One thing the SAT does NOT measure all that well, at least according to several reputable and impartial sources, is likelihood of college success.

- I have no idea how much more students prepare for the SAT now compared to 30 years ago, and never made a claim regarding this statistic one way or another. It's clear, however, that a huge industry has grown around the SAT and standardized testing, and this industry has a vested interest in maintaining/increasing the importance of these tests, as well as making students want to improve their own performance on them.

- Check the graph I posted. Math scores have actually gotten HIGHER this decade than the previous two, while critical reading scores have gone down. (Why isn't the College Board trumpeting this improvement? See point 2 above.)

- The SAT was never intended to measure knowledge. (At least not the SAT I. The subject-based SAT IIs are another matter.) Furthermore, since scoring procedures, test-taking demographic, normalization, and even the questions themselves are all different year-to-year, drawing significant conclusions from a time-series of scores is shaky at best.

 

[TripTango]

The problem is that the SAT only tests a narrow range of intelligence. It should be expanded to include woodwork, cooking, sewing, auto tech, and most of all, video gaming. Modern teenagers are smarter than before but tests have not kept up. I blame old people. Old people don't like teenagers and refuse to change the SAT. The SAT only takes up a Saturday morning. Why not make it a weeklong affair and test everything. I'd have made Harvard if they'd tested my anklebreaking crossover.

When are we all going to meet up at the park sos I can test your ankle-breaking crossover on the court?

 

[ABM]

When are we all going to meet up at the park sos I can test your ankle-breaking crossover on the court?

Sly Poker Dog told me that he wants to meet you at Mt. Tabor Park.

 

[TripTango]

Sly Poker Dog told me that he wants to meet you at Mt. Tabor Park.

If we got numbers, I think that would be awesome. Portland SportsTwo Lockout Classic 2011?

 

[BrianFromWA]

Sly Poker Dog told me that he wants to meet you at Mt. Tabor Park.

Over Hank's dead body.

 

[ABM]

Over Hank's dead body.

Exactly

 

[blazerboy30]

It probably doesn't compute because none of those bullet points accurately reflect what I've said.

EDIT: Here's what I'm saying, neatly bulletized for your pleasure.

- The SAT measures many things, including core knowledge, reading comprehension, overall intelligence, and test-taking abilities. Sorting out the impact of all these individual factors on any student's score is tough/impossible. The fact that simply learning strategies for taking the test can improve a students score on a section by 100 points or more (equal to the standard deviation!) indicates to me that this may be the single most important factor. One thing the SAT does NOT measure all that well, at least according to several reputable and impartial sources, is likelihood of college success.

- I have no idea how much more students prepare for the SAT now compared to 30 years ago, and never made a claim regarding this statistic one way or another. It's clear, however, that a huge industry has grown around the SAT and standardized testing, and this industry has a vested interest in maintaining/increasing the importance of these tests, as well as making students want to improve their own performance on them.

- Check the graph I posted. Math scores have actually gotten HIGHER this decade than the previous two, while critical reading scores have gone down. (Why isn't the College Board trumpeting this improvement? See point 2 above.)

- The SAT was never intended to measure knowledge. (At least not the SAT I. The subject-based SAT IIs are another matter.) Furthermore, since scoring procedures, test-taking demographic, normalization, and even the questions themselves are all different year-to-year, drawing significant conclusions from a time-series of scores is shaky at best.

You didn't follow the point. Oh well.

 

[TripTango]

You didn't follow the point. Oh well.

Uh oh... What'd I miss? Did I get rickrolled?