Conns, not sure how involved you are in Standardized Tests, but do you have a lot of students that score high on Math but get low scores on Verbal stuff or vice versa? My SAT's were such a contrast. Luckily, I corrected that by grad school.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Test taking strategies?

You read the question, and then you answer it.

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I've never taught Juniors so can't really give a good answer on ACT/SAT results. At the junior high level I,can say the thing we were stressing particulary in the last five years was written response answers. There was a gap for a lot of kids between straight computation and written response type answers.

ACT/SAT prep classes/tutors like Excel Edge are a big money maker. It is an easy part time job for teachers that pays between 40-50 dollars an hour during the testing season.

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We need to improve the technical ability of our youth with STEM majors, but eliminating all liberal arts classes is not the solution either. We still need abstract, critical thinkers. Our two presidential options was proof of that. We have a society that doesn't understand - even at a rudimentary level - the philosophies we claim to subscribe to and that doesn't have enough critical thinking skill to argue opposing philosophies in a logical manner. We have people at Berkeley setting things on fire and disallowing opposing viewpoints. We have people who dangerously propose the elimination of due process for certain crimes. We have people who literally argue against any government intervention in health care but love Medicare. I'm not saying it wasn't always like that to an extent, but I have to believe that there was more rational thought and debate in previous generations. Multiple factors probably affect this, but it surely isn't a good reflection on our education "system"... and eliminating courses that encourage critical thinking through philosophy, literature, drama, sociology, etc would only exacerbate the problem, IMO.

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If the point is only that the next generation is activated and politically aware for the rest of their lives, it was worthwhile.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

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Well as a guy who has taken and passed many high stakes exams, the CPA and CFA ones most notably, there are certainly a lot of test taking strategies. People waste time on questions where they have no shot at coming to the right answer. I have helped many of my co-workers with CFA exam prep. But Standardized tests are are different animal because they are not strictly mastery of a fixed body of knowledge.

I took a test prep course at NIU for the Audit Exam section of the CPA. I ended up with my highest subscore in that section, and the teachers were fantastic. They gave us so many useful tips that made the exam easy.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

It is true that there is a strategy to taking tests, but I always considered that to be part of the measure of logic of the person. People who get stuck on a question for an hour and don't move on deserve to fail and, ultimately, die so that our species can become stronger.

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Soon we can automate critical thinking.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

without those STEM majors how are we going to do important shit like make a half elephant half woolly mammoth?

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

You stated that you significantly improved your scores. I think people can be trained to take tests better. I think that's the biggest challenge of this tests. The pressure, the time etc.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

This is a receipe for disaster. "Critical thinking" skills is just a Soros/Clinton/Clooney-funded tool designed to undermine the legitimacy of President Trump's historic victory and presidency. These "skills" are deployed by Soros/Clinton/Clooney MSM minions all over the country to question the veractiy of the presidents' statements and policies, as if those things needed verification. The effect of all these "critical thinking" exercises is lively debate and discussion all over the country about public policy and civic engagement, all of which is anti-American because derails the president's agenda and his right to construct his own narrative and facts. No true patriot would allow "critical thinking" sklls to filter anything the president says or does, so in contrast to this libtard shithead we need to support the total elimination of all those courses and skills in order to finally unify around the president.

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libtard's personfied:

Bu then you have what is basically going on right now in most public schools,teaching to the test. They are not really teaching anything but what is needed to pass the test that year.

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

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I'm really vibrating on gd's frequency in this thread.

You motherfucker.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

This fleeting moment of commonality before the start of baseball season has to be a gift from God

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.