Good morning all!
Last night I received an email from a friend back home in
the US and I thought I’d share the gist of it with you. My friend is a
professor at University of Oregon where I did some of my post-graduate work.
Professor Lirpa Sloof (obviously not of American origin) and I met at a
university function many, many years ago and we shared a common passion of mine
at the time, racquetball, and we often played and enjoyed some adult beverages
afterwards while I was going to school there. We’ve kept in touch over the
years, and 2 years ago he took on a post with the AP College Board. After
reading an article recently (2 days ago) on problems with the SAT and how the
system is being scammed, I sent him an email asking for his thoughts on the
matter. Rather than paraphrase his words, I’ll just copy and paste the body of
his text:
Hey old man, good to hear from you!
We’re drying out here after a particularly wet winter, but otherwise the campus
is in fine fettle. We were sorry to see Oregon get beat in the NCAA tournament,
as you mentioned, but they did make it to the Sweet 16!
The timing of your question about
the status of the SAT comes at a very interesting moment. I will give you a
brief heads-up about what’s coming down the road – and I’m taking into
consideration that you are way the hell over in China and are so far out of the
loop that a little early information will do no harm.
When I took this post with the AP
College Board almost 2 years ago, I naively assumed that the tests we administered
were valid and fair. Recent revelations have not only shattered this illusion
but left me completely awe-struck. As you mentioned, it has been admitted that
some SAT tests have been compromised, with students being able to receive
actual copies of the tests beforehand, along with the correct answers. As will
soon be revealed, however, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Not only have
an unknown number of tests been released prematurely, but it has been
systematically covered up as well. Evidence has also come forth that actual
members of the AP Board have been complicit, and hundreds of thousands of
dollars in illegal compensation has been received. In order to salvage what
little integrity may remain for these tests, the Board has decided to be as transparent
as possible. Early next week a press conference will be held where we are
announcing the cessation of all SAT testing and AP testing, effective
immediately, until all security issues have been resolved. (The AP tests are
being included as we discovered some anomalies on these tests as well.) We are
hoping to be able to resume testing as early as 6 months from now, but it could
be up to a year. We realize that this may cause a severe inconvenience for some
students, but college admissions officers are telling us that given the present
set of circumstances, they have no choice but to disregard these results
anyways. Students will have to rely on their GPAs, course selections in high
school (perhaps select an IB curriculum), and possibly take the ACT tests
instead.
I know that in China your students
have a heavy reliance on test scores, but unfortunately we see no way around
this at the present moment. I’m letting you know about it now as you may want
to get an early step on looking for a new job next year. When I took this post
on the AP Board, I did not have an inkling that I would get mired in this!
Maybe if you visit this summer we can solve all the problems over a few glasses
of hand-crafted beer… In the meantime, I’m thinking maybe Trump can solve all
our problems and make us great again… Good to hear from you and take care…
Prof. Lirpa Sloof
And there you
have it, from the horse’s mouth…
Gregg
As with most cases when you are pulling a prank, it helps to have some actual truth mixed in. Turns out there is quite a bit of truth in this one. Recent articles in the New York Times have revealed that the AP College Board has been aware, at least since 2013, that SAT tests are being compromised (most of this is happening in Southeast Asia - i.e. China). And not only have they been aware, but they have been covering it up. The victims of this are everywhere - the Chinese students, the US students, and the US colleges and universities. AP says they can do better, but they would have to double the price of the test. I don't think a single Chinese student over here would complain about that. They spend a fortune on these tests anyways (they have to fly to Hong Kong just to take the test as it's not allowed to be given on the Chinese mainland). They go to private SAT tutoring schools who provide them with "past papers" to study from. They do not know that often they are receiving the actual test they will be taking, but when they go in to take the actual test and discover that they have seen many or most of the questions before, they just consider themselves lucky!
This weekend is a 3-day holiday. Monday is Tomb Sweeping Day. You go and do some upkeep on the gravesites of your relatives. Except the young don't seem to do it much these days - it's only the older generation... No plans for the 3 days. Weather is looking good, pollution is mild...
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