The Class of 2007 posted the lowest SAT averages in several years, according to scores released this morning. Scores from the second year of an expanded, three-section college-entrance test declined by double digits in Maryland and the District, by five points in Virginia and by seven points nationwide, compared with the previous graduating class.
Education leaders said the modest decline reflected an ever larger and more diverse population of students taking the test. More blacks, Asians and Hispanics took the SAT in this year's graduating class than in any previous class; two-fifths of test takers are now minorities.
This is really not good news and I think it reflects on us all. Everything from the Britney's and Lindsay's to Faux news and the crap you see on TV is obviously not having a positive influence on a large portion of our young folks. The article blames some of this on the increase in minorities and to those for whom English is a second language but I think there is more to it than that.
It used to be that business managers complained about the lack of technical skills in new folks coming into the workforce but in the last few years it has switched to a lack of competency in writing and expressing themselves verbally. I know I see it pretty much everyday just in the email I receive from some of the younger folks I work with. I can only see this getting worse. Not that the SAT scores are the be all and end all of measuring our kids intelligence and ability but they are clearly an indicator.
If you have not seen the video of Miss South Carolina attempting to answer a question at a beauty pageant that is floating around ....it will make you cringe.
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