Which relates _how_ to my point about the number of Americans studying math, science, and engineering in college?
As for SAT scores qua scores, you do know, I hope, that ETS has acknowledged making the tests easier? An article on one of the "recenterings" is at:
ncpa.org
Furthermore, many more high school kids are now in "SAT cram courses," often run by their high schools as regular classes. Studying specific kinds of math analogies and synonyms for an hour a day for a year prior to taking the SATs is likely to have a substantial effect...I'm just surprised the gains were as small as they have been.
(When I took the SATs in the late 60s, there were no such programs except in a few big cities. And few students bothered with them. And this was long before calculators even existed, let alone could be used during the math part of the SAT!)
Which again says nothing about declining engineering, physics, chemistry, and math enrollments of American-born students in major universities.
--Tim May |
