Also, SAT/ACT tests as recently as the 1980's were not required by all schools, especially if you had stellar grades. When I applied to undergrad, if you were in the upper 10% you didn't need to take the test. Now, virtually everyone takes it. Seems like you could get an increase as more and more schools adopted it for all students. This might not only hide the supposed increase, but even create enough noise to miss a decrease!
Furthermore, in the case of the ACT didn't they redesign the test in the 90's? And the SAT has been redone several times, and even been subject to racial biases (historically) that no longer appear present. Combine problems with racial biases with the above problem of fewer top students taking it and any increase could be completely cosmetic! On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 11:36 AM, Ken Leonard <[email protected]> wrote: > Jane Shevtsov wrote: >> >> On Sun, Jan 17, 2010 at 10:43 AM, Alyson Mack <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> the sad truth is, our children ARE becoming more stupid every year. The >>> fact >> >> Do you have any evidence for this claim? IQ scores have been rising >> pretty steadily for a century. (Look up the Flynn effect >> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect>.) SAT scores are the >> highest they've been since the 1960s, although a somewhat larger >> percentage of high school students are taking the test. There are >> always fluctuations, but are there any measures of intelligence that >> have been showing a consistent decline? > > It is my understanding that "IQ tests" in general and "SAT" are both > normalized to the community. So far as that is true, I must wonder what a > student today would score on the IQ test or SAT of forty years ago? ...and > what the student of forty years ago would score on today's IQ test or SAT? > I even wonder about myself: In Spring 1963 (Junior in high school) I > scored 1600 on the SAT (then only two sections of "test") and in Spring 2005 > I scored 1595 on the GRE (also then only two sections of "test"). What > would my 17-year old self score on SAT in 2009? What would my 21-year old > self have scored on GRE in 1967? > > -- > Ken Leonard, Ph.D. Candidate > The University of Georgia > Odum School of Ecology (Bradford Lab) > 517 Biological Sciences Bldg. > Athens, GA 30602 US > > "Contrary to populist opinion, facts are not established by populist > opinion." > -- after Don Watson, ISPE > > [email protected], [email protected] > http://kleonard.myweb.uga.edu/ > > 1+404.307.6425 > -- Malcolm L. McCallum Associate Professor of Biology Managing Editor, Herpetological Conservation and Biology Texas A&M University-Texarkana Fall Teaching Schedule: Vertebrate Biology - TR 10-11:40; General Ecology - MW 1-2:40pm; Forensic Science - W 6-9:40pm Office Hourse- TBA 1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution. 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction MAY help restore populations. 2022: Soylent Green is People! Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
