Brian R. Walsh weblog

How Much Do Those Test Scores Count?

brianrwalsh — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:53:37 +0000

In my consulting work I am often asked by parents of children applying to independent secondary schools this question, and it is an important one, both for the parents of poor testers and also for those of strong testers whose kids do not have impressive grades. The answer doesn’t make a difference whether the child is applying to a private day school or a boarding school, but it does make a difference for a child applying from an independent elementary school or one applying from a public school.

The difference is that children applying to prep schools from independent schools will have been given written recommendations from teachers and school heads and those from public schools are likely not to get them because of union rules forbidding such recommendations. Generally prep schools, day and boarding, will consider recommendations first, particularly if they are familiar with the sending school, then performance as measured in grades and effort grades, then SSAT scores, then the interview and finally the written aspects of the application, such as essays and answers to fill-in-the-blank type questions. Obviously the SSATs are going to count more for the child applying from a public school, not only because of the lack of specific recommendations but also because prep schools are usually skeptical of grade inflation in public schools.

This brings up the question of whether tutoring for the SSATs or ISEEs is necessary or will be effective. Since it is the program percentile on these tests that draws the most attention from admissions directors, this is the figure to focus upon in assessing a child’s need to be tutored. If it is relatively high, say 75%ile or better, chances are tutoring is not going to do much good, and in fact, may undermine a child’s confidence if he does not do better after the tutoring. On the other hand, if the child’s performance if very high, as measured by grades and teachers’ comments, and his test scores are low to moderate, tutoring will almost certainly bring his scores up. The child’s performance is the true test of his ability, and if his test scores do not match it, test anxiety and/or a lack of test taking strategy could likely be the problem. A good test tutor can make a big difference in both.

It is important to point out that some children are not naturally good testers, even though they may be extremely bright. These children can often perform at a high level in school because of their intelligence, focus and hard work. By the same token there are high testers who do poorly in school because they are much more adept at recognizing correct multiple choice answers than they are willing to apply themselves to the difficult tasks of learning. As you might guess, prep schools prefer the former to the latter! Also, some children, because of their natural aptitudes, will do much better on one battery of test, such as verbal, than on another which involves quantitative material, or the reverse. Here test tutoring can be directed just to the area of need.

Another factor in helping kids to be “test wise” is simply taking the test as early as sixth grade and then taking it again in seventh and eighth grade, and ninth grade as well, if they are applying to prep school in the tenth grade. I have found that sixth and seventh graders who do very well on the SSATs or ISEEs the first time will continue to do just as well, or even better, as they get older. Sometimes the percentile may go down a little (because of a stronger sample of kids taking the test), but their raw three digit score will go up. I have also found that kids who have done relatively poorly on their first test will often bring their raw scores and percentiles significantly up by the third time they have taken the test, even without tutoring. Part of this is being more “test wise;”i.e., leaning to take the tests more efficiently, such as knowing when not to guess (wrong answers mean subtractions from a score) or learning not to dwell too long on a question when there are easier ones ahead. Tutoring, however, will accelerate this process. Finally, effective and efficient test taking does require a matter of maturity, and a little time can do wonders for that.

Posted in Education, Private schools, Secondary Schools, Testing

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE GOOD GUYS?

brianrwalsh — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:15:46 +0000

            Our schools glibly record a child’s average in history but rarely consider his “average” in interpersonal relationships. Students are told again and again that grades really are not that significant and that they should be concerned with being kind, considerate, industrious, obedient and “themselves.” They are also told in one way or another that board scores really are not important, but what really matters is effort. What information, however, is meticulously recorded on all transcripts?
          Perhaps the one tangible measuring instrument for those qualities we like to hold in such high esteem is the recommendation form used for colleges and prep schools. Almost all of these instruments include references to character, personality, appearance, concern for others, participation in the community, and leadership. Often the forms involve a checklist for these categories which are measured via the terms outstanding, excellent, good, fair or poor. Invariably there is also some space provided for elaborating comments, but what is most limiting about the use of these recommendation forms is that they are rarely seen by anyone except the person actually making the recommendation and admissions officers. Virtually all the information on the transcript, however, is easily accessible and often deliberately delivered to students, parents, teachers, counselors, and administrators.
          Maybe we should have all the teachers of a given student fill out recommendation forms anonymously and include the composite results with the student’s academic report cards. Maybe we should be finding some ways of conveying to students our observations of their growth as people. This need is particularly significant for the strong student-citizen. These are the people who are the most difficult to reward with praise, for their modesty always affects our credibility.
         When it comes to the uncomfortable topic of morality-or even that of humanity-we seem to be more obsessed with punishment in our efforts to meet the needs of our students. While certain forms of punishment may be effective elements of motivation, too often application is well intended but badly misguided or poorly timed.
          Most of our independent school kids have been thoroughly conditioned to the second chance syndrome. From infancy they learn that the first mistake always brings no more than a warning, and that even thereafter other warnings are likely before they experience the consequences of their actions or of their lack of responsibility. There appears to be some evidence that this pattern continues through adolescence ;e.g., despite the frequently heard complaints of parents, teachers and administrators that “nobody enforces basic rules anymore” -it seems that more students are being expelled from schools than ever before. What happens is that early warnings go unheeded by many young people until they are into some major difficulty where the most severe form of punishment must apply in the interest of the community.
         A soccer, football or field hockey team is penalized if one of its players is offside -even for the first time. For most players the lesson is learned quickly. Without this appropriate form of enforcement, it is not inconceivable to imagine a player being expelled from the game after several flagrant violations that were accompanied by mere warnings. If we are to refer to the lessons of life learned on the field in our independent schools, perhaps it is high time we applied some of the more elementary ones. The offside penalty approach to learning personal growth seems immensely more humane than that of the second chance syndrome, particularly when you consider where each is likely to lead.
         But what happens to the good guys? When much of our time is expended sympathetically helping transgressors with their problems and providing opportunities for that second chance, how much stronger must those be who never need another chance. There must be some way of reinforcing or, more importantly, spreading the self-discipline and commitment of young people whose values are such that they selflessly resist the temptations of immediate gratification at the expense of others. Perhaps by being more alert to acts of consideration and courage, we would be in a better position to reward them.
         Maybe if we rendered at least equal weight to the development of personal characteristics as to those of athletic prowess our schools would move closer to the objectives confidently expressed in our catalogs. Every reward we extend to athletic success should be at least matched with reinforcement for success in developing responsibility. The argument of equating these rewards to academic achievement might be more difficult for some schools to accept if they maintain a set of purposes and objectives that is primarily “academically oriented”, but there seem to be very few educational institutions that do not express personal growth as a priority goal. Probably fewer ever reach this goal as successfully as those of academic achievement. The reasons seem clear-our level of tolerance for failure seems enormously higher for the growth of personal values than it has been for academic stagnancy or-God forbid-losses on the playing field.

The Shore Newsletter, Shore Country Day School, Fall 1977

Tutoring

dovetails — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:04:14 +0000

          Some years ago when a little four-year-old came in to have his “interview” at Buckley, he told the Lower School teacher who was doing the developmental testing, which is really what the interview is all about, that he “had seen that game before.” He had also “seen” several of the other “games” put before him, as did the little boy who, when tested by an Educational Records Bureau (ERB) person at his nursery school exclaimed, “My mother asks me these questions all the time in our kitchen!” At the tender age of four tutoring had begun!
          What was fascinating about these scenarios is that not only was it obvious that the boys were tutored but also that the children were not the least bit fooled as to what was going on. What was sad is that testing of any kind should be a matter of accurate measurement from which important decisions can be made – in these cases where two little boys would spend the next 10 years of their school lives!
There was another situation, again several years ago, where a well-known and highly successful nursery school was sending out candidates with almost universally high ERB scores. This led to great suspicion among the ongoing schools, for how could any nursery school have all their children be high testers when many of them started at only two or three! Fortunately, the Director of the school had the integrity to look into the situation and, sure enough, found that a tester had been coaching the kids as they took the various batteries of the W.P.P.S.I., the standard ERB admissions examination for kindergarten.
         One of the driving forces here in New York for tutoring, not only for admissions testing but also for everyday schoolwork, is the power of peer pressure among parents. I have heard parents actually say to me and to one another, when their guard is down, that they are having their son tutored “because they know others are doing it, and they don’t want to fall behind.” This plays into the neurotic New York parent syndrome of the need to push buttons and turn knobs constantly or someone else will get AHEAD! The sympathetic position is that these parents simply want the best for their children and have the resources to do what they can. What’s missing, of course, is that there are developments in life (read development in children) that simply cannot be controlled, no matter what resources are available, and that children are far better off — from any point of view – being guided rather than programmed to take advantage of their natural attributes.
          Most children do not need to be tutored for anything and actually will suffer some harmful effects of it, some of them long lasting. What many parents do not realize is that kids can have their confidence and self-esteem undermined by tutoring. As I have often said to our parents at Buckley, self-esteem begins with integrity. Children know when a padded grade is not real or that they were given a break they did not deserve, and they do not feel better for it. Although it is rare here, I have heard parents, after a report card comes out, try to convince teachers – or even me – to raise a grade so his or her son could make the honor roll. My colleagues at less traditional schools claim this happens all the time! Isn’t this like asking an official to change the outcome of a hard fought but closely lost game to preserve the self-esteem of the “losers”? Our boys wouldn’t buy it for a second.
          While unnecessary tutoring certainly does not carry the moral stigma of the above, what does apply is a child feeling inadequate when help is foisted upon him that he doesn’t need, which almost inevitably leads to his feeling that he cannot do anything on his own. That is real loss of self esteem. There is also a bit of a gender factor here, for boys’ self-esteem is dependent upon their feelings of competency, while girls can be motivated by a supportive, nurturing relationship that can come from either a special connection with her classroom teacher or the individual attention of a tutor. This is why boys will often fight tutoring and girls will often welcome it.
          Teachers oppose unnecessary tutoring, for it gets in the way of their assessment of the needs of a student and how to reach them. The symptoms of the overly tutored student are blatantly visible to the classroom teacher. Homework comes in perfectly completed on a regular basis, yet on quizzes and tests it is obvious the student has no real understanding of the material. Also, papers appear to be written at a level that is well above what the teacher sees in the boy’s classroom work. Homework is never given with the expectation it will be done to perfection, for one of its purposes is for a teacher to determine how much the student has grasped the material. It can also be a helpful measure of a student’s progress as well as an opportunity to practice and develop skills. None of this will occur if the tutor is overly involved with the completion of assignments. As a result, some kids actually fall behind their classmates in their proficiency because of tutoring!
          There are, of course, valid reasons for some tutoring. They always have to do with specific needs of individual students, and they are almost always temporary needs. The child who has a learning problem that requires some extra attention to the development of reading and/or writing skills would be an evident example. Another is the child who lags behind his classmates in training in a given area, such as the boy who enters seventh grade at Buckley who has not had French or Spanish, or the boy who comes to us in Middle School and has not had the same comprehensive math background as his classmates. Similar advantages to tutoring would apply to a boy who had a much lower aptitude in one area of learning (quantitative or verbal) than in others. Still another special case that calls for tutoring would be that of the excellent student who achieves very high grades yet does not do well on the Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT). He could benefit from some help in strategies and practice to reduce anxiety and build confidence. If a boy’s performance on the SSATs is comparable to his classroom performance and other national testing, however, tutoring can be harmful. It is likely to lead him to feel “dumb” if he does not do better (and chances are he won’t), and he may also feel some guilt because he knows his parents have invested time and money in the process. Incidentally, the SSATs are far less significant a factor in secondary school admissions, particularly for independent elementary school children, than are the SATs for the most competitive colleges – hence the panicky pursuit of special tutoring for the SATs. At the elementary level, classroom performance is far more important than national testing to ongoing schools.
          How do you know when to have your son tutored, then? The guidelines are pretty simple – only when it has been recommended by teachers, administrators or professional evaluators and only for as long as it is needed to meet specific, clearly-defined needs.

This article first appeared in the 2001 Edition of The Parents League Review.©2001 The Parents League of New York (212) 737-7385 www.parentsleague.org
At the time of pubication Brian Walsh was the Head of The Buckley School, New York City.