SAT Stress

Taking the SATs is stressful.

It was particularly stressful in the primitive days of 1963 and 1964 when there were no calculators for the math portion and time remaining for each section was noted by screeching chalkmarks on a blackboard. Of course, the ultimate stress was if you screwed up the SATs, you failed to get that college draft deferment, and you found yourself sinking into a rice paddy in Vietnam.

The calculator and time stressors are gone. Last year, the College Board announced that it would shorten the test so that 90% of students could complete it in two hours instead of scrambling to finish it in three as before. Also, calculators are now allowed for the math portions. Since modern calculators can store all manner of data, lots more 700 math scores should result.

The College Board justified removing the time constraint thusly, “For decades, educators have seen speed as a marker of aptitude or mastery, forcing students to scramble to finish tests. But a race against the clock doesn’t measure knowledge or intelligence. It assesses the much narrower skill of how well students reason under stress. As a result, timed tests underestimate the capabilities of countless students.”

But what is the purpose of the SATs if not to measure “aptitude and mastery”? The student who can read a passage one time and get its meaning immediately will likely do better in college. The student who can look at a math problem and immediately rule out three of the four possible answers probably can handle college calculus.

The College Board countered this objection. “Time pressure rewards students for rushing instead of working at a more deliberate, careful pace. This skill isn’t useful in the real world, where some professions require methodical attention to detail. You wouldn’t want a surgeon who rushes through a craniectomy, or an accountant who dashes through your taxes.”

Engineering certainly required “methodical attention to detail.” Mess up that structural stress calculation or heat up that reactor too fast and people die. But the engineer must do his work quickly and accurately or the damn thing will never get built.

I hate to be the crusty old fart who complains that “Kids have it too easy nowadays.” Still, I wonder how much higher my SAT scores would have been if I could take my time and use a calculator.

By Ed Dufton