Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

'Education Week''s Sean Cavanagh Discusses SATs

Aired August 27, 2002 - 14:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The SATs are graded and the scores are in. The class of 2002 is doing better in math, but slipping on the verbal section. This year, 1.3 million students took the SAT, with an average score of 1,020. Six hundred sixteen students scored a perfect 1600. Overall math scores were up 2 points over last year, and 15 points over the last 10 years. Verbal scores dropped 2 points from last year's average, with only a 4 point increase over the last 10 years.
Joining us now to talk more about the test and how it weighs in college admissions, Sean Cavanagh of "Education Week" -- Hi, Sean

SEAN CAVANAGH, "EDUCATION WEEK": Hi, how are you doing?

PHILLIPS: So I'm curious, what did you get on the SAT?

CAVANAGH: Well, you know, it is strange. I grew up in the Midwest in a state that didn't really put a lot of emphasis on the SAT. So I was spared from the SAT. But I did take the ACT, and it is not an experience I would want to repeat, I would tell you that it.

PHILLIPS: It does. It just stresses you out. I remember the anxiety. And even if you were prepared for the test, you still blanked out. I mean there is so much stress on students nowadays to take that test. How have you seen it affect students over the years?

CAVANAGH: Well, I think among the high school students, that I talked to from different parts of country, it is clear that while there are a lot of people out there who say that less emphasis should be put on these tests, the SAT and the ACT, it is clear among high school students they mean as much as they ever have and that they clearly view the test as a big factor being one of their tickets to getting into college, especially elite colleges.

PHILLIPS: The College Board says that this is a way to level the playing field, by taking the SAT. But isn't it just a way to pick out -- I mean, does the SAT really say how smart a student is, how well a student is going to do their freshman year of college? Has that been proven?

CAVANAGH: Well, I think it depends on who you talk to. I think that what most people who support the idea of the SAT and the ACT would say that is it does pretty accurately predict how well a student is going to do their first year in college and after that. But others say that, Look, there are a lot of factors out there that dictate how well a student is going to do in college, everything from their writing ability to their work ethic, their study habits, their determination. So it really depends on who you listen to.

PHILLIPS: There has been a lot of controversy over this test, that is for sure, a lot of universities even saying they want to disregard it. Still, it's pretty fully intact. But some changes are going to be made. What are those change he is going to be?

CAVANAGH: Well, the SAT earlier this year announced that they were going to make a couple significant changes. They were adding a writing test, which was probably the biggest change the SAT has made in years. In doing that, the designers of the SAT were in a sense acknowledging what some of their critics have been saying; they were responding to some criticism that had been coming from the University of California in particular. The president of University of California had really leaned on the SAT, asked them to consider adding a writing test and said that in its previous form, that the SAT wasn't really testing students on what they learned in high school. This new test is aimed at gauging a student's writing ability. The new SAT will also drop the verbal analogies section, which it is safe to say was one of the most dreaded sections among most among most test takers.

PHILLIPS: Sean, it is dreaded among many of us. A lot of us around here didn't do so hot -- and hey, we are not doing so badly in our careers, right?

CAVANAGH: I'm with you. I'm with you on that one.

PHILLIPS: There you go.

Sean Cavanagh, "Education Week" -- thanks, Sean.

CAVANAGH: You're welcome.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com