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March 02, 2005
And this is what secondary teachers will have to teach to
Yes, I realize this isn't from the SAT folks themselves. Rather, it's an interpretation of what's wanted on the SATs. And it's deeply depressing. I can't help but think of a news item I read a year ago—Winerip, Michael. "A Vital Touchstone for High Schools." New York Times 3 March 2004: B8. Winerip reports that Will Fitzhugh, the founder and publisher of the Concord Review, which publishes high school students' history research writing, fears that a decreasing number of students will be writing research. Instead, predicts Fitzhugh, they'll be practicing the five-paragraph themes required in the new SAT writing tests.
Yep. Short sentences with active verbs; being personal; and being entertaining. That's a lot more useful than being able to conduct research and critical analyses. Thank god the SAT is pointing AP English in the right direction at last.
Color me disgusted. Unless it is developed by coalitions of secondary and college teachers and rhetoricians (which, basically, it never is), standards-based writing instruction is a wretched charade, a perversion of writing, rhetoric, and education itself.
Posted by senioritis at March 2, 2005 07:24 AM
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