Educators must devote new attention to writing, critical thinking skills to prepare students for latest SAT

Dr. Ralph Sloan

Guest Column

As high school students across the country prepare to take a new version of the SAT college entrance exam that includes a writing component requiring a handwritten essay, I am reminded of what my freshman English composition professor at Harvard quoted from the poet W.H. Auden, “How do I know what I think until I’ve seen what I’ve written?” That quote has guided me throughout my career as an educator.

The renewed focus on developing writing in schools is to be applauded. There is no substitute for teaching writing. But have schools across the country risen to the challenge? A report by the National Commission on Writing in America’s Families, Schools and Colleges published in 2003 indicates we have neglected writing in our schools for more than 20 years. Among the statistics cited:

• Nearly 66 percent of high school seniors do not write a three-page paper as often as once a month for their English teachers.

• Seventy-five percent of seniors never receive a writing assignment in history or social studies, and

• Senior research projects are rarely assigned because teachers do not have time to correct them.

The report called for a writing revolution in our schools and challenged our nation to put writing at the center of the educational agenda. The response, from the College Board, is a new version of the SAT — the most common college entrance exam in the country — that includes a graded writing sample.

Students, parents and educators are nervous. No one knows for certain what the essays will be like and how much weight college admissions will give the new test. What we do know is that students will have only 25 minutes to compose an essay on a specified topic, which then will be scanned into computers, read by at least two scorers and graded on a scale of one to six.

According to an article in the Washington Post, the 3,000 additional scorers hired by the College Board to handle the new essay component are mainly moonlighting teachers, and each must read an average of 220 essays in eight to 10 hours. That averages out to approximately three to four minutes per essay, barely enough time to read and make a fair assessment of the work. With admissions to top colleges becoming more competitive each year, the stakes have never been higher. Teaching students to write and write well has never been more important.

At Dwight-Englewood School, where I am headmaster, writing is taught across the curriculum, not just in English, but in history, science and foreign language. Students are taught day in and day out to think and write critically. In-class, timed essays occur frequently. Teachers thus have an opportunity to evaluate students’ knowledge of the subject matter and students have the experience of writing in a pressured situation.

Today, many parents pay thousands of dollars to companies that offer test preparation for the new SAT. In a recent article titled “A Big Score for SAT Tutors,” BusinessWeek magazine stated that revenues at leading test prep companies — including the Princeton Review and Kaplan — are on the upswing. Some school systems offer SAT prep as part of the curriculum. The Dwight-Englewood philosophy is that the best way for students to prepare for the SAT is to read and write every single day. Students must begin writing regularly in elementary school and on a daily basis by the time they enter high school.

Test prep companies promise to teach the skills students need to score higher on the new SAT writing section. As an educator in both the public and private sector for more than 35 years, I believe the concept must go beyond “teaching to the test,” and focus on preparing students to express themselves by thinking critically and writing thoughtfully in different situations and formats.

It is clear that students who attend schools that devote sufficient resources to the writing curriculum from the early grades have a better chance of success not only on the new SAT, but at college and in their careers. Educators across the country should focus on teaching writing skills within and across the curriculum to assure that their students become experienced and confident communicators.

Dr. Ralph Sloan is headmaster at Dwight-Englewood School, Englewood. He serves on the board of directors for New Jersey SEED, a scholarship program, and the Educational Records Bureau.