The Use Of Sats

By Author: Anthony W Bills
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The use of SATS
Introduction
SATs are in two categories, Standard Achievement Tests (SATs) are the achievements tests given to the students at the end of 2nd, 6th and 9th grade year. The SATs are used to determine the child’s progress and achievement compared with other children in the same grade and born in the same period. The mean grade (average) for each of the group on the assessment is set at 100 and the standard deviation is set at 15. As far as the SATs are concerned, a numerical value is given and has a same meaning in regard to terms of standing relative to the specific group.
The other form of SAT and the most common is the Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test is a test that is done for the college admission in the United States. The SAT is published and owned by the College Board, it’s a non profit organization in the US. The test was formally administered and published by the Education Testing Services (ETS).
Since the establishment of the test, its name has severally change to its current name, the SAT. The test contains three main sections, Mathematics, critical ...
... reading and writing.
The function of the SAT
According to the College Board, the test is of importance because it measures the critical thinking skills that are required for a successful academic performance in college. The test is claimed to assess on how well the examinees can analyze and solve the problems, how they portray the skills they acquired in high school that are still crucial in college education. The SAT test is mostly taken by high school juniors and seniors, it is found to be important to the combination of SAT and the high school grade (GPA) for it gives a clear indication on how the student will perform in college. (Rebecca, 2002)
On the other hand, the use of the standardized test in the education system, help in providing the learners in exploring what they had been tough and remember. In most cases, the learners tend to forget what they have been taught and are unable to provide detailed information regarding to the subject. In this regard, that sat has some advantage for it encourages the students to keep in mind whatever they have been taught.
The most intended function of the SAT, is to ensure that the education the students are learning are up to the standard of the government requirement of that particular grade.
Why are SATs Used?
Today’ American education system has promoted this kind of thinking that kids are not required to think for themselves, the learners are mostly taught on providing answers on any given question. Thus, most of the learners cannot explain why, how and what of particular issue that has been brought forward that require their explanation. The use of the SAT has contributed in raising the students reason for more learning and need to understand the aspect of any probable issue that might be brought across that would require them explain.
The SAT requires the student to explain and provide every detail that it may be required by the examiner. In the process of trying to look for answers and perfecting one self to sit for the SAT, students get deep and learn more to enable answer the provided question in detailed answer that would prove that they know. Though this might be seen as a weakness for the test as the student would be looking for a way of answering the question but not for understanding, is on the other hand strength for it would encourage the student to learn more for they would be required to explain every answer they provide.
The use of the standardized test would provide the student with adequate knowledge on how good he/she is compared to other learners of their level.
In the establishment of the SAT, the main intention was to standardize what the student learn in school is up to the highest standard by taking points from a particular subject that would determine whether the student has passed or failed in that specific class. On the other hand, the test would help in determining where the teachers are not teaching and which schools are well taught in any given State. The incentives given to the teachers and the students who perform well are on the other hand encouraging the students to work hard in school as well as teachers to teach properly. (Jay, 1996)
The SAT help in determining which schools have better performance compared to others. In most cases, some schools prepare the students for some internal and external examination; this does not help the students when it comes to SAT, this is not set according to specific school or state, but in regard to what is supposed to be covered during the entire learning session of a given grade.
In the year 2002, when President Bush signed a “No Child Left Behind” Act (NCLB), the acts was to set a better education for children and have qualified and competent teachers. One of the requirements in the Act was to have children take a standardized test. The test is a way of government keeping a track on the performance of the school and which schools are up to the standard performance. The use of the test would also help the government in determining the specific schools, areas that have reduced performance and that would be easy to access the problem they might be facing thus helping in determining the amount of financial aid each specific school would need. (Gary, 2008)
The structure of SAT
The SAT has three main structures, Reading, Mathematics and writing. The scores of each section is added together to get the total scores. Each of the section is divided in to three subsections. Most of the questions are multiple choices in which you are required to choose one from the three provided. (David, 1999)
-Critical reading
The critical reading also the verbal section, of the SAT, has three sections with different types of questions. In the fist section, it contains the completion of sentences, questions on short and long passages. In the sentence completion section, it generally tests the students knowledge on the use of vocabulary and knowledge on sentence structure and its organization that requires the student to choose one the several words provided that would complete the sentence.
On the critical reading section, most of the question are regarding to the passage reading which may come from humanities, social science perspective, physical science or on personal narration that would require the student to answer the questions that follow. In some tests, the students may be required to have a comparison of two provided passages which may either be on long or on short passages.
-Mathematics
This section is also known as quantitative section. This section contains three sub-sections. In all three sections, there are multiple choice questions but with eight grid questions on the second part of the test. The mathematics section of the SAT test has done a way with quantitative comparison and has left with only questions that need symbolic and numerical responses.
- Writing
In the writing section, the questions are barely on the error identification and sentence and paragraph improvement questions. The sentence completion and error identification tests the student’s perfection on grammar and this would require the student to fix the awkward provided sentence. In the paragraph improvement section, students are tested on their understanding of logical organization of different ideas, this is done presenting a poorly written essay from a student and the examinee is asked a series of questions regarding to what changes that might be done to best improve it.
Conclusion
The SAT should be used in testing the students’ capability in various applications of their knowledge in their exams. It’s of more importance as it would enable the standardization of the students’ performance in the whole country. This would also help in determining which schools have better performance compared to others. The SAT has enabled the government determine which schools needs more funding to improve on their performance. The use of SAT in school also encourages the students to work had in order to pass the examination and move to the next grade or lever. (SAT, 2008)

Reference:
David, O. 1999, None of the Above: The Truth Behind the SATs. Rowman & Littlefield,
Gary, G. 2008, Gruber's Complete SAT Guide. Sourcebooks
Jay, S. 1996, The Mismeasure of Man. W. W. Norton & Company; Rev/Expd edition.
Rebecca, Z. 2002, Fair Game? The Use of Standardized Admissions Tests in Higher Education. Falmer,
SAT, 2008, About SAT, Retrieved from http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/about.html on 17th Nov 2008

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