Word: owen
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...lecture in Science A-17. "The Astronomical Perspective," Professor of Astronomy and the History of Science Owen J. Gingerich spent about 40 minutes attempting to explain the principles of escape velocity. But unlike most teachers, who would present the facts and chart out the numbers on the blackboard, Ginegerich felt he had to Illustrate the topic of the day. So he concluded his lecture by zooming out of Science Center D aboard a homemade rocket...
...proposition that standardized tests are not biased against Blacks is only true in the narrow sense that they do not underpredict their later academic success. But Klitgaard does not examine the other possible biases of these test although there is a growing body of evidence demonstrating them. Journalist David Owen's recent devastating attack on the validity of the SAT, for example, shows that contrary to popular assumptions, students can be coached to do better on standardized tests--perhaps even to the tune of 100 points. Not withstanding the considerable doubt such findings cast on the notion...
...experimental, often difficult candidate questions for future tests. One such question asked for the antonym of the word imbibe, whose common definitions are to drink and to receive into the mind. The answer choices were (A) dissuade, (B) reward, (C) exude, (D) loosen bonds, (E) refuse help. According to Owen, only 13% of students taking the test marked E.T.S.'s answer, exude, which is the opposite of soak, an archaic definition of imbibe. Review students are taught to spot the experimental section by its heavy cargo of muddy puzzlers and are told to ignore...
...Review's real secret, Owen maintains, amounts to code cracking; that is, mastering E.T.S.'s system for building an SAT and then turning that system to beat the test. A representative midrange SAT question is answerable by most bright students, eminently flunkable by slow ones, and something between for the middling muddler, whom the Review nicknames Joe Bloggs. Thus the square root of 4 is no good for the middle-to-hard portion of an SAT, since anyone may guess the right answer to be 2. But the square root of 9 is perfect: easy if you know your algebra...
...College Board, in New York City, Senior Vice President Fred Hargadon deplores what he calls Owen's "selective use of evidence" and unquestioning promotion of the Review (where Owen now teaches). Says Hargadon of None of the Above: "It wouldn't pass as a graduate paper." E.T.S. President Gregory Anrig particularly disputes the test-score gains reported in the book, saying that coaching usually produces increases of only 14 to 26 points. Many of the "tricks" that Katzman's Review claims to impart, says Anrig, are explained in a free E.T.S. booklet distributed in advance of the SAT. College administrators...