notes.1, cr by rha on travel2!! thu 17 apr 1997
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1. Introducing the New SAT, The College Board's Official Guide, 1993.

Notes on 1.

I happenned on this edition in a used bookstore and bought it.
More recent editions might be different. This one has five parts.
Part 1. Introducing the New SAT.
Part II. Test-Taking Strategies.
Part III. The SAT I: Verbal Section
Part IV. The SAT I: Math Section
Part V. A Complete Practice Test.
Obviously it is the last two parts which concern us here.
In fact, as Part IV includes practice qustions, we will
be satisfied to describe this one part.

Part IV begins with a concise list of concepts
the applicant needs to know, under four headings:
Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, and Miscellaneous.
Note the order, which already echoes  one of our
main complaints about Goliath. Other than this,
we have only two  objections to the concepts which are listed.

#1. Under Arithmetic we find an 
included item:
	"Word problems involving such concepts
	as: rate/time/distance, percents, averages"
The problem with this is that we do not consider
dynamics to be an arithmetic concept. The difficulties
which students have with word problems may stem from`this in part,
while word problems on weights and measures (under geometry)
may be easier. Problems on dynamics probably
should be moved to the physics section of the test.
The mistaken inclusion under Arithmetic
inclines the school math program to undertake
these concepts too early.

#2. Under Geometry we find we find an
excluded item:
	"Formal geometric proofs"
Of course these may be difficult to test
with multiple choice questions. But
the explicit exclusion of this material
from the SAT makes likely its exclusion
from the entire high school program, which is
disastrous.
This has lead to the devotion of the school
geometry program exclusively to the content,
as opposed to the method, of geometry.

end: biblio.sat