Oscredwin
Cold.
from The Frozen East
Since: Jan, 2001
Cold.
#76: Dec 14th 2011 at 11:38:34 AM
In the 1970s, there were 13 boys for every one girl who scored exceptionally high on the SAT math test as a child. By the 1990s, the ratio had decreased to three boys for every one girl.
This stat doesn't support the claim that the gap at high levels of math have been shrinking. In the timeframe discussed, the SAT was made much easier. What an 700+ math score in 1970 means is a much higher mathematical ability than a 700+ in the 1990s. It's apples and oranges. I would like the claim to be true, but the quoted fact doesn't support it.
Sex, Drugs, and Rationality
#77: Dec 14th 2011 at 4:33:32 PM
If that was true, the change ought to be very sharp; the SAT people are quite deliberate in making their tests and if they wanted to make it easier they would do so in a single year.
I don't actually know if the SAT was made easier or what the data looks like, just pointing out that is a prediction of what Oscredwin is saying.
I'm convinced that our modern day analogues to ancient scholars are comedians. -0dd1
Total posts: 77
