<p>But consider these two hypothetical students:</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>Student B. Scores 540 on SAT math, enrolls in prep course, studies and retakes SAT 2 more time, scoring 680 math on third try. </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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.</p>