by Jim Plautz
Basketball was over, and the entire school switched their attention to the upcoming SAT. There was frenzied activity the next three weeks as Matthew pulled out all stops in an effort to prepare for the test. Study groups met before and after school. Breakfast was free, compliments of ever increasing residuals from the kick ass movie, CDs and T-shirt residuals. Parents donated their time to staff the cafeteria and clean up while the kids studied. After school, there were two-hour voluntary study halls that had almost 100% attendance. It was like basketball practice. You didn’t have to go to practice unless you wanted to be on the team, and everyone wanted to be part of this team.
Students were provided a copy of the Princeton SAT Study Guide and had access to the Official SAT Study Guide and the Kaplan SAT Guide. A typical two-hour study session included a twenty-minute instructor-led review of the material, a 20-minute practice test and a 30-minute question and answer period. The final 30 minutes was free time typically used to prepare for tomorrow’s material. Slower students were falling behind so Matthew set up review sessions in the evening where the better students tutored on a one-on-one basis. The motto was “everyone counts - nobody gets left behind”.
We started scoring the practice tests two weeks before “TD” as the kids started calling the April 23 test date. As a study group monitor I had direct access to the practice scores and soon saw that Matthew’s goal of averaging 2,000 points might be attainable. There were a few scores in the 1500-1600 range, but 75% of the kids were in the 1,800 – 2,000 point range and 15% were consistently over 2,100. The SAT writing section appeared to be our weakest section so Matthew brought in the experts from Princeton. “There is a right way and wrong way to write an essay. Never start until you have organized your thoughts and jotted down a brief outline of ‘talking points’. Write legibly; if they can’t read it you won’t score well.” The last point was meant for me.
Matthew was everywhere the final week, personally making the rounds to as many evening tutoring sessions as he could. I wondered when he got enough time to study. He described himself as nothing but a cheerleader, but if that’s what he was, he did it well. Students were worn out and wanted to get the test over with, but Matthew kept pushing them to find that little extra that often makes the difference between a good score and a great score. One group saw him coming and pretended to be asleep when he came into the room. Another tutoring group at a private home intentionally answered the questions wrong for ten minutes before Matthew caught on. A third group didn’t see him coming and issued a spontaneous groan when he walked in. “We were just about to call it a night,” one girl commented. “Just a few more minutes,” Matthew pleaded.
TD finally arrived. We had 1,117 kids take the test, including 312 sophomores that took the test for practice – their scores would not be included in the official test results because they had not covered much of the material that was included in the exam. Principal Hawkins arranged for the test to be taken at the high school under the direction of SAT staff. They recommended we utilize the school auditorium and cafeteria as test rooms in addition to classrooms to allow everyone to spread out and to help ensure the integrity of the test scores.
The SAT measures skills in math, reading, and writing. Total test time is three hours and 45 minutes, but the elapsed time including instructions and five-minute breaks between each section is about five hours. Instructions started promptly at 7:45. One minute before the start, a roar started in the cafeteria and spread to every room. “We Kick Ass! – We Kick Ass! – We Kick Ass! The clock ticked to 8:00 AM and silence echoed through the halls. It was time for students to show what they could do.
Matthew was seated near the back of the auditorium and finished his essay in twenty minutes. There was no need to check his work so he put down his pencil and scanned the room. Most kids were writing furiously which probably meant that they had not organized their thoughts properly. “If only we had more time to prepare,” he thought.
“TIME,” announced the monitor. “Please put down your pencils and turn to the next section. Read the instructions carefully.”
“START,” the monitor announced at exactly 8:30.
Matthew breezed through the math questions quickly skipping two questions when the answers did not immediately come to mind and marking three others so that he could double-check his answers.
“In terms of p and q, how old was a cat 4 years ago, if p years from now the cat will be –2q years old?”
Matthew quickly entered the correct answer (-2q +p +4) and went back to double-check the answers he had questioned earlier. The key to taking a time-driven test is not to get hung up on a question, but come back to it later and allow your mind to take a fresh look. He completed his work early and again looked around the room, trying to get a sense of how well everyone was doing. He could see a few answer sheets from his vantage point and it looked like they would finish in the time allowed. He couldn’t tell if the answers were correct since these kids might have started on a different section of the test.
“TIME,” announced the monitor. “Put down your pencils and turn to the next section. Read the instructions carefully.”
“START,” the monitor announced at exactly 9:00 AM
“Far from _________, the food supply for mountain climbers was ___________ at best.”
Matthew smiled as he recalled his mountain climbing experiences. He chose adequate and meager, over wholesome and elaborate. Matthew had no trouble with the critical reading section.
Other students were not having so easy a time. Andy was a pretty good student, but math was not his strength. Geometry was okay, but trig and even advanced algebra had always given him problems. He found himself guessing more than he liked and wishing he could poll the audience or call a friend. He did better with the reading and writing sections.
Jennifer’s headache was getting worse. It was hard to concentrate. She hoped that two more aspirin would help, but either way, she couldn’t quit. Matthew was counting on her.
There was a fifteen-minute break at mid morning to allow monitored bathroom breaks. Cell phone calls or conversation between students was prohibited. Many of the students just stayed in their seats and closed their eyes, trying to relax. A couple minutes before the testing resumed, the roar started again: We Kick Ass! We Kick Ass! I could see the smiles come back to their faces and their demeanor brighten. “START,” the monitors announced, and the testing resumed.
The final section of the SAT is a multiple-choice writing section and Matthew took the entire 10 minutes. It was no time to be careless. He put down his pencil and closed his book feeling good about his performance. He worried about the others.
“TIME, please close your books and bring them to the front of the room. Testing is completed.”
There was a dance in the school gym that evening to help the kids unwind. The sentiment seemed to be they were glad it was over; it was fun, but once was enough. I did my own mini-survey and got the impression that most of the kids seemed quietly optimistic about how they had performed. Only time would tell. The dance was scheduled to end at 11 PM, but by ten the gym was almost empty. I would bet that the majority of them slept until noon.
The waiting had begun. It would likely be two or three weeks before the tests were scored and results were announced. We were only into the second week when Principal Hawkins called me into his office and closed the door. “Jim, there is a problem with the SAT scores.”
Oh no, I thought the kids had put so much time into this. They would be crestfallen. “What’s the problem, Bill, didn’t we do as well as we expected?”
“No, just the opposite, the scores were too good. The national testing center is questioning the results.”
“Have they double-checked the scoring?”
“Yes, they even triple checked. The problem is that our seniors jumped from the 77th percentile last year to the 98th percentile this year. The average score was 2,150. Even our juniors rank in the 90th percentile. It’s unprecedented, and m
any of them are saying impossible. They suspect cheating.”
I sat back in my chair, starting to realize the ramifications of this. “How?” I asked, “How do they think we cheated? They had monitors. Do they think teachers were involved?”
“They aren’t saying, although one theory is that we got hold of the test beforehand. They just keep saying it’s impossible for an entire school to have that big of leap from one test to another. They don’t know what is happening here.”
“Okay, what can I do to help?” I asked, beginning to realize that this wasn’t just an idle conversation. “Matthew?”
“You guessed it. We need to tell the students, but I think we should start with Matthew. Will you help me break it to him?”
“Sure, but let’s get it over with before I lose my nerve.”
Matthew saw the solemn expressions on our faces as he entered Principal Hawkins office. “It’s about the test results, isn’t it? They were too good to be true.”
“How did you know?” Hawkins asked in amazement. “I was only notified this morning.”
“I didn’t know for sure, but I’ve been asking around and most kids feel they improved. There is no way the scores would not have jumped significantly. What are they?”
Matthew smiled when he saw the results. “98%, that’s awesome, better than I hoped. Do you have my score?” he asked with a grin.
“No, they haven’t released the individual scores, only the composites. That’s the problem, Matthew. They are threatening to throw out all the scores because they don’t believe that 98% and 90% for the juniors is possible.”
“Without cheating,” Matthew said, completing the thought. His expression had turned grim.
I hadn’t said a word, but offered a suggestion. “Just an idea, but I wonder if there is a way to validate the test scores without everyone having to take it again. Maybe we could take a few questions from each section, kind of a random sample?”
“That would take a long time to get a statistically valid sample and get everyone to sign off on it,” Bill said shaking his head.
“That’s not a bad idea, Coach,” Matthew said ignoring Principal Hawkins’ comment. “But rather than answer a few questions, let’s offer to have 10 or 12 seniors retake a new test. The SAT may choose the testing site and they pick the 12 students, as long as I am one of them.”
“That’s an excellent idea,” Hawkins agreed. “If this small test group does as well on the 2nd test they will have to honor the scores for everyone. I’ll call them right now.”
“Tell them we need an answer by tomorrow and we need two weeks to study,” Matthew said. “We can’t let everyone hanging.”
We listened as Hawkins made his proposal to the SAT director of regional testing. The conversation didn’t appear to be going well. “Director, please hold on for a second, while I consult with my people.”
“Matthew, help me out here. His board is saying that they can’t project the results from such a small group to the entire population. Is he correct?”
Matthew smiled and asked for the phone. “Gentlemen, this is Matthew Wilson, one of the seniors who took the test that is being questioned. The 14th question of the math section addressed random sampling and probabilities in determining wildlife populations. The correct answer was “c” which states that you need only a 3.5% sample. The same principle applies here. We have a population of 326 seniors that took the SAT. A sample of ten kids would allow you to project the results with a 96% confidence level, a sample of 12 will give you a 98% confidence factor. That is a +- of only 2%, much less than we use to project election results.”
There was a pause while the SAT testing board discussed the issue. We just heard Matthew’s side of the phone conversation. “I agree you should check my math, but that should not take three days. In fact, I’m sure my friends at the Wall Street Journal could check the math in time to make tomorrow’s newspaper. They might even get a second opinion from the ACT board.”
Wow, I thought, as we waited for a response. Matthew knew how to play hardball.
“May 15th will be fine. I’ll leave it up to you to determine how to pick the sample group, but we need the names of the other 11 students by tomorrow. Thank you for your cooperation,” Matthew concluded, handing the phone to Principal Hawkins.”
“It looks like we have a new ballgame.”
Chapter 17 - SAT Two, The Lucky12