Changes to the SAT

The professor said at orientation: The biggest difference between college courses and  graduate school courses is the rigor of the testing. While multiple choice exams are the assessment of choice in undergraduate classes, multiple-multiple choice exams are the assessment of choice in post graduate classes.

In other words:  gone were the days of picking out the correct answer from the 5 or 6 listed after each question. I was now going to deal exclusively with things that read something like A only, B only, A and C only, All of the above or None of the above.

It was a whole new layer of choice.

The objective of this exercise in assessment was to be discerning. The intent was to measure academic skill; but in all this type of assessment measured was one’s gaming skills. One was forced to gamble whether in the sea of almost correct answers, which one, if any or some or all or neither tipped the scale into fully correct.

Every multiple-multiple choice was a calculated lottery pick.

Which circles me into to the SAT and its new upcoming changes. Because whereas things like analogies ( e.g. minutes is to recorder as trick is to…..) have been edited out of the exam for about 10 years now, the grading system  has remained the same for just about eternity.

The college board finally figured out that the exam, by nature of the fact that correct answers receive a point, unanswered questions received no points, and wrong answers received a -1/4 point penalty, played havoc with a student’s decision making process. Every filled-in #2 dot was a gamble. It was a situation such that understanding the gaming was as important as understanding the expected content.

And so finally the SAT will be scored fairly---no more penalties for wrong answers. Students may focus on the best choice and not whether that choice will hurt them.

Students will no longer have to worry about  how to take the exam---they will only need to worry about straight-up performance.

It will level the playing field.

Because games ought to be played only on fields and x-boxes, and not in classrooms  as a part of high stake academic assessments.

And minutes  is to recorder as trick is to trickster---not educator.

Hashtag

My daughter texted me: Ugh every time she invites me on her boat I can’t go #whitegirlproblems.

I thought: #neverhadthosewhitegirlproblems.

On Date Dances

 I was totally feeling like I was all that.

It was an honor that only a select few would share. I knew exactly what I would wear, which table I would be sitting at, and what song I would dance to if I won.

But for all my attention to detail I had forgotten the biggest one of all: Every Snow Ball princess at Our Lady of Victory Academy required an escort for the dance. And I (unfortunately), was a Snow Ball princess without one.

In December of 2001, not only was my eldest daughter a freshman at the high school, but I was also freshman among parents at the high school PTA meetings. Many of the questions asked of the principal were high stake and emotionally charged—it was commensurate with the fact that every day at the high school brought highly charged and highly staked challenges.

And it was at this meeting that a mother stood up to state that she was offended by the school’s policy regarding date dances. She wanted to ban mandatory dates for attendance. The mother was tired of seeing her daughter faced with rejection every winter anticipating a Winter Wonderland invite and tired of seeing her daughter rejected every spring when she offered a boy an invite to the Spring Fling.

The principal nodded empathically and simply said: I completely understand as a parent, a principal, as well as a former guidance counselor how difficult it is to see a child disappointed. No one wants their child to endure emotional pain. I am sorry that your daughter has not had a positive experience. But I stand firmly on this issue—a huge part of the learning curve in high school is developing social skills. Boys need to learn how to talk to girls and girls need to learn how to talk to boys. Figuring out the whole date/dating process is a part of growing up---and a part of dating and social interaction is rejection---and dealing with it. And while it is a parent’s instinct to protect their child, sometimes you must allow them to trip and fall so they may learn how to get back up…

The woman remained unconvinced.

 And my road to finding a date for the Snow Ball was not a highway. When an ice storm struck the day of the dance, it was postponed. The escort I had secured was not available for the rescheduled event—he had to go back to school—in Nebraska. And so I was forced to ask the son of my parent’s friends to escort me---which was awkward on too many levels.

And even though Susan Gleeson went on to wear the queen’s crown, Tommy and I still had fun at the dance (the pre-game helped).

And as each of my own daughters navigated through the whole date dance process, I let the chips fall where they may—even when it was difficult. I knew it wasn’t my job to intervene--- even though I really wanted to.  I knew it was something they had to work on or at themselves. They were better, not worse for the wear.

They would survive—in spite of or because of the drama.

Because lessons learned avert a lessened learn.

Under the Radar

Because I had to leave my freshman poetry class a few minutes early, I missed hearing about a last minute assignment—to write a stream of consciousness style poem.

I only got wind of my peril minutes before class started that next day. And so as I waited in the hall for the bell to ring, I spit a bunch of adjective-filled angst-appropriate verb-free phrases on some looseleaf paper.

It was not brilliant work---yet it fulfilled the assignment.

I would not lose points.

And since poetry is subjective by nature and I had managed to string enough colored yet cohesive linear thoughts together, the professor remained unaware of the work’s hurried nature.

My homework slid under the radar.

Which is what I am up to this morning. In the blink of an eye a week has passed, and I have not written down a single thought despite intending to.

And while this post might not be the most humorous or insightful, it manages to fulfill the mission.

Because sometimes it’s okay to show up to the party with a box of twinkies and a bottle of Coke; it may not be wine and a piece of cake, but it still may be appreciated none the less.