242 Newsletter - March 14, 2014

Chris Hancock - Assistant Headmaster for Student Life
It appears the College Board is at it again. In a lengthy NY Times Magazine article last week the “Story Behind the SAT’s Overhaul” was documented (full article here).
It appears the College Board is at it again. In a lengthy NY Times Magazine article last week the “Story Behind the SAT’s Overhaul” was documented (full article here). If you ask me, overhaul was an interesting word choice. It appears they’re revisiting an older, albeit well-intentioned, delivery of the same ol’ test. Effective efforts or not, it’s probably too little too late. They’ve created a far from perfect system that has, in turn, created a far from equal playing field and culture. It also appears to be one that is unlikely to change anytime soon.

The ACT, a different test measuring acquired high school course knowledge, falls short in myriad ways too. From my vantage point, it is because the College Board and others either fail to recognize, or deliberately overlook, one of the most critical components in the college success equation. If their intention is to help determine college achievement and placement, they’d be well served to actually perform a true “overhaul” and incorporate another element.
 
Show me a test that measures grit. Show me a test that measures a student’s perseverance. Show me a test that can effectively determine those aptitudes and only then you will see an accurate predictor of success in college and beyond. In fact, EHS alum and current teacher Sara Kaplan ’02 has been invited to give a TED talk at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum later this month about these exact characteristics. It is as critical a skill as anything else students learn in high school (even earlier) and yet we opt not to assess it when college admission is on the line?
 
I ask this, of course, because our particular population of learners at EHS draws from a well of resilience and stick-to-itiveness that forms the bedrock of their eventual college success. A growing corpus of research evidence suggests that this factor can be just as important as intellectual ability for succes in college and beyond. Vermont Governor Shumlin, who is dyslexic, even reaffirmed this in his commencement address to our 2012 graduates. Our students arrive at EHS with varying degrees of this aptitude and while here we attempt to impart the tools to our students, both through intentional design and less structured circumstances, in order for them to discover and explore its limitless potential.
 
As our neighbor public school temporarily drops arts programs and other electives in order to make room in the day for MCAS prep classes and in-school units entitled “Beat the Test” (See the most recent article on www.learningdiversity.org), EHS makes sure our students are not only prepared for the reality of standardized exams but also to see far beyond the relative insignificance of a calculus problem to their life’s and collegiate trajectory.
 
It is great the College Board is finally looking inward in earnest, but I hope both they and the entire educational sector will continue to evolve in thought about the importance of some often overlooked skills. I know I speak for my EHS colleagues when I say I am proud to work within a community designed to promote grit. I am proud to live among students and faculty where autonomy provides us opportunity to engage in learning of all kinds. I am proud to know that here all of the aforementioned are valued equally and never compromised.
 
Have a great weekend,
Chris
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