friday, december 12, 1975
daily nebraskan
page 9
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SAT (verbal)
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ACT composite mean scores showed Nebraska
students scoring nearly two percentage points
higher than the national average in 1975.
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Nebraskans scored 25 points higher than the. '
national average in SAT verbal categories,
while topping the national SAT math average
18
ACT
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by 35 points in 1974-75. The ACT is divided
into four parts, English, mathematics, social
studies and natural sciences.
Lewis Fowles, UNL associate dean of
. academic services, said UNL has followed
the national trend of rising grades.
There are many reasons college grades
are rising despite falling test scores, Fowles
said.
Many colleges have started using a plus
system which allows a student to get a 35
or B average (4.0 being top) without ever
receiving an A, he said.
Allowing students to retake classes in
which they receive a D or F also lifts
grades, Fowles said.
Braskamp said economics play a big part
in rising college grades.
When college enrollment grew in the
1960s, grades also went up, Braskamp said,
"and the enrollment rise can be partially
attributed to avoiding the draft.
Colleges are now interested in maintain
ing their schools, he said, and not in flunk
ing out students because they need their
tuition. Some of the elite schools are still
selective, but most schools want to keep
their enrollment high, he said.
Admission requirements in the College
Handbook, which describes more than
2,000 colleges, showed that out of the 50
states universities requiring SAT or ACT
for admission, only one requires a
minimum score for admission.
NU requires either ACT or SAT for
admission but requires no minimum score,
said Al Papik, UNL admissions director.
Any Nebraskan who has graduated from ,
an accredited high school will be admitted
regardless of test scores and nonresidents
are admitted on a combined basis of class
rank, quality of high school transcript and
test scores, Papik said.
Nebraska Wesleyan University also re
quires either test and no minimum score,
said Admissions Director Ron Johnson.
Bot NU and Wesleyan use ACT to award
scholarships, place students in honor pro
grams and advise and place students in
classes.
Nebraska's other state colleges (Chad
ron, Kearney, Wayne and Peru) also use
ACT scores to award scholarships and do
not require minimum scores for admission.
"Schools need to examine
where they fit in
with the scores and
see if there is any
need for change."
5. High schools should consider test
scores: (a) as an indicator of how they
should change their curriculum; (b) as an
indicator of how their students have per
formed but nothing more; (c) as an in
dicator of how their students have per
formed and as one consideration of cur
riculum. According to five Nebraska high school
administrators interviewed, (c) is the besj
answer.
Ron Houston, director of college place
ment at Omaha Westside High School, said,
'Schools need to examine where they fit
in with the scores and see if there is any
need for change, but curriculum shouldn't
be changed just because of the scores.
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What we really need is to get some
accurate evaluation of the scores done with
figures, not just opinion."
Bill Spellman, college counselor at Bel
levue High School, said test scores prob
ably shouldn't dictate curriculum, but add
ed that Bellevue has adjusted its English
program to help test performance.
Three weeks before the test date
emphasis is put on grammar and other
English skills in English classes, Spellman
said. Last year was the first time it was
done, he said, so it is too early to see any
difference.
Kenneth Conner, guidance director at
Ogallala High School, said their curriculum
is not based on test scores and added that a
student's college performance is what
really matters.
Don Darnell, assistant principal of
Lincoln Southeast High School, said not
too much stock is placed on the tests at
Southeast, but added that they shouldn't
be eliminated.
Dick O'Neal, Scottsbluff High School
guidance director, said that since the tests
do not reflect the whole student body
(about one-third of high school seniors
take the test both statewide and nation
ally), using them to evaluate curriculum
probably wouldn't reflect the whole situa
tion. 6. Scholastic aptitude tests should: (a)
be eliminated since they don't mean any
thing; (b) continue and serve as the prime
indicator of student performance; (c) con
tinue as an indicator of student perfor
mance when considered with other factors;
(d) change to conform with what is being
taught.
Selection of (c) is probably the best
choice for this question.
"SAT is not intended to reflect what is
being taught in high schools, but to predict
performance in college," said SAT's
Abernathy.
'There's always someone around saying
secondary schools aren't teaching what
they're supposed to. Now people are saying
if you don't believe me look at the scores,"
he said, adding that many people misinter
pret the scores.
Munday of ACT said a decline is always
harder to explain than an increase and the
year-to-year decrease bothers people.
ACT and SAT are reputable organiza
tions that try to assess students' ability to
learn, grasp concepts and apply them to
other situations, said Hudson, from the
education department.
'They do a pretty good job, but society
and schools are changing and they can't do
a 100 per cent job of assessing changes," he
said.
"SAT and ACT are to education what a
thermometer is to medicine," Hudson said.
They indicate things you already suspect,
but they don't tell the whole story.
"If the temperature keeps getting higher
or the test scores keep getting lower it is
probably an indication that some assess
ment should , be done," Hudson said.
Some of the people holler, "back to the
basics," are looking at the scores from a
limited frame of reference, he said.
They can only compare numbers and
often aren't considering reasons that can
cause a decrease.
"I think testing is essential, but it is
only as good as its user," he said.
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