SAT Coaching Barely Boosts Scores, Study Finds

Wall Street Journal:

Families can spend thousands of dollars on coaching to help college-bound students boost their SAT scores. But a new report finds that these test-preparation courses aren't as beneficial as consumers are led to believe.

The report, to be released Wednesday by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, criticizes common test-prep-industry marketing practices, including promises of big score gains with no hard data to back up such claims. The report also finds fault with the frequent use of mock SAT tests because they can be devised to inflate score gains when students take the actual SAT. The association represents 11,000 college admissions officers, high-school guidance counselors and private advisors.

Read the whole story: Wall Street Journal

Comments

[ThatHomeschoolDad]

I've been an SAT tutor for 3 years, and my kids range from those who grab for the calculator to do 6+7, to those who can whip out dynamite essays on the finer points of constitutional law. There do seem to be broad similarities in both groups. Those in the latter tend to be involved in individual pursuits, like music, figure skating, gymnastics, equestrian sports, etc., they tend to live in modest homes with very involved parents, and those parents tend to be immigrants with very high standards. To be fair, I have had a smattering of stellar kids from American-born parents, but in those cases, the other criteria are always there. Stereotype? You betcha, but it's what I see all the time, and yes, some of these kids are headed for burnout in college. The others are going to run the country.

The kids who's scores go up are already smart and motivated. The others, well....Th­ere's only so much I can do in 8 to 30 hours when the raw material just isn't there.

I recommend the great book, "The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College." Although it's a few years old, it does illustrate how colleges are obsessed with keeping their placement in the various ratings guides, US News, et. al., which also contributes to testing frenzy.

[stargazer13]

go to school for twelve years and this is the best we can do even with coaching

teachers you have our kids five days a week for at least six hours a day

and our children are more stupid then there grandparents were how is that I wonder

[Winthorpe]

I don't know where to start with this. How did they ever let you pass a class?

[d19]

I took a practice GRE and got a 600 on the math section, practiced with Kaplan books and got a 780. It was a fair amount of work, but not difficult.

Honestly, I think this is like trying to quantify the effectiveness of a Pimsleur language course. You can buy the books, but only diligent work will make you fluent in a language or score high on a test.

This test measures precisely that -- will you study to be able to jump through a hoop, or do you consider yourself too smart or too dumb to waste your time on such matters?

[Rich Hosking]

There is no fix for stoopid--only ignorance.

[Bee]

My high school offered free SAT coaching, and my sister's score improved 100 points (on the old 1600 test). They started offering the coaching after I graduated :(

[furion4865]

As an African-American, I believe these exams are a scam and I believe this study is a scam. I believe this study was conducted to combat the growing opposition to the legitimacy of these examinations. All this tudy is attempting to do is counter the argument that rich kids gain an advantage on the SAT because their parents can afford to pay exorbitant fees for SAT prep courses. Lani Guiner stated, "what type of car your parents drive is a better indicator of how well you'll perform in college than the SAT." This country equates high test scores with merit and one has absolutely nothing to do with the other. Educational and Occupational tests content, scoring and validation criterium are oftentimes way too subjective to provide any accurate measure of competency and should be stopped until DOE can develop a means of independently auditing tests content and results.

[Paulo1]

I agree.

As a college instructor I see a depressingly large number of students, not exclusively urban but primarily so, who have somehow passed all the standardized tests and come to college barely literate. Reading sentences from an "A in High School" student who believes that Leet is an appropriate font and that "The League of Nations was lame" is an appropriate answer on an exam is extremely depressing some days.

These are bright young people trying to do the right thing by going on to college. They took and passed all those tests and were told they were prepared to excel. All they were prepared for was to have their dreams crashed when a college instructor has to give them the bad news that they are not doing college level work. Only a very few can recover from those years of being lied to.

[MRb1000]

Yea I know my daughter did not take these classes and scored very high on the test. Her friend took the very expensive classes and scored maybe 10 points higher. So these classes do not work. Good old fashion studying the meat and potatoes. Studying math, English, Science and Social study will increase your score. Yeah attending the right high school with the right educational program that cares and parents who care.

If you know a kid that need help. Please help him if his parents do not have the ability to help! This is were America is failing. It is all about pride.

The kids need our help!

[chevyval]

Kids should drop video games and texting. Their scores would improve.

[grammargirl]

Agreed, but on the other hand, many students benefit. I personally know of kids who had high scores for math and were barely scraping the bottom of the barrel in verbal diagnostic tests who took the Princeton Review and increased their scores by up to 400 points. These kids were not dumb; they only needed the boost in the verbal category.

[frantaylor]

Sure, just blame the video games. They are shown to INCREASE visual comprehension and motor skills.

[Antifascist-08]

Thank you for this post.

These classes are a scam.

They are ruining our education system too. Much too much emphasis placed on these scores.

It does prove, however, that the people who designed the test did a pretty good job. The test is designed to measure what you have learned in terms of applying that knowledge, not parroting it.

KUdos to the test makers.

[frantaylor]

Sure they did a good job on the tests. They haev made a way to measure people that is just as hard to fake as your shoe size, and just about as indicative of how you will do in everyday life.

[Christopher in NYC]

Ahh, the continued dumbing down of America...­. the future seems bleak.

Maybe someone ought to put SAT test prep software on the XBOX or the Nintendo Wii... maybe that might help towards getting kids to think, eh?

[txdem413]

I took a Princeton Review SAT course many (no, really, MANY) moons ago, and my score went from 1090 to 1390 (back when a perfect score was 1600). It definitely helped me, but I'm sure with the resources readily available today, I might have done the same thing on my own.

[OneTop]

Well Doh !

It was never about boosting scores, it was about making money.

[SharpDressedMan]

I am not surprised because the test is designed to measure knowledge amassed during 12 years of schooling. The crash courses may help some but not most who take the test.

It's the responsibility of the schools to properly educate students. They get tons of money for it.

[LeslieKluman]

Nice going, big mouth. Sounds like we'll need a bailout for SAT Prep Schools.

[PoliticalRockChick]

So true. I remember studying and studying so hard for the SATs and my score was atrocious. I hate test. Test doesn't tell how smart someone is at all.

[Winthorpe]

No, but that post does.

[robXdion]

The best coaching there is can be done with a simple computer program that drills you on the SAT styled questions while you keep in mind that you don't have to answer EVERY question in the given time limit (or was that the old version?).