Nonlinear Psychometric Thresholds for Physics and Mathematics

calmom
Sun, 01 Jan 2012 18:21:07 +0000

But consider these two hypothetical students:

Student A. Scores 580 on SAT math at one sitting, doesn’t bother to retake because GPA is high enough to guarantee admission at state. U.

Student B. Scores 540 on SAT math, enrolls in prep course, studies and retakes SAT 2 more time, scoring 680 math on third try.

What is the difference between innate ability of student A and student B? You know that student B exists – it happens all the time and it is how the test prep companies make their money. The difference in test score is simply a question of motivation an effort; the difference in long-term results has not been studied.

As to the “Lake Wobegon” analogy … my d. has a WISC-tested IQ in the “highly gifted” range. She scored 590 on the math SAT, 580 on retake. She didn’t study. Her current job includes managing a budget of about $2 million. The skills needed for that task are addition and subtraction. She took one math course in college – statistics – griped about how difficult it was and earned an A. I think her problem is that she doesn’t like math-- I’m pretty sure that she could learn just about anything she wanted, if she set her mind to it. I’d note that I have a son who happens to be very good in math, but has not taken any math in high school – like his sister, he did take one stats class in college, but while my d. took stats at an Ivy, my son took stats online from a community college, so I’m guessing that my d’s course was more demanding. My son just sat for the new GRE and got a perfect math score (170, 99th percentile). Like his sister, however, my son does not like math, though his reasons are different – he finds math to be boring and doesn’t like the repetition involved in working out math problems for homework assignment, she finds it difficult.

I’m not saying that all students who score poorly in math on the SAT can be taught to become strong math students; I’m saying that some students who score poorly have the potential to do much better, an the task for educators should be how to better identify and engage those students.