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The justification for using the SAT-M in underage testing is in fact that: because the material would not have yet been covered in any classes, it tests ability
by gwern 7y ago
The justification for using the SAT-M in underage testing is in fact that: because the material would not have yet been covered in any classes, it tests ability to come up with a correct answer to a novel problem rather than skill. (Remember, educators have long been convinced that any kind of acceleration of gifted kids is poison, and SMPY's results have been a major reason that gifted kids can do any acceleration these days, so they're not just covering it in some accelerated math class.)
- boomboomsubban 7y agoThey could be covering the material with private tutors or similar outside the classroom experience. That's why we can't say for certain the test is measuring skill.
- knzhou 7y agoUh oh, that seems to be rather out of date. When I took the SAT-M in 7th grade I recall having already seen harder versions of all the questions, because of math competitions. The same went for almost everyone I knew that took it.
- abecedarius 7y agoFWIW I took it in the 80s (also around 7th grade though I forget exactly) and it was not like that for me. I wish I'd had more contact with real math that early -- school was such a waste of time.
- gwern 7y agoWhen you took it, you weren't part of this SMPY cohort starting in the 1970s. Most of these kids certainly were not taking 'math competitions' or 'private tutors', they were languishing in regular classes, and that's why Stanley used the SAT-M.