SAT Scoring: Is It Fair for Both Boys and Girls?

NEW BRITAIN, CT (11/28/2007)(readMedia)-- At times, questions have been raised if there is a difference between boys or girls scoring on the SAT.

The SAT score discrepancy between boys and girls is not new. Explanations from "boys are better at standardized tests" to "boys are wired differently for math" to "boys treat the test like an athletic event" have been given for at least twenty-five years. At least one other explanation is at work for the SAT, and those who recognize it, male and female, are destined to do better when taking the SAT:

The SAT rewards intelligent guessing.

This itself deserves explanation. The SAT's raw score formula of 1 full Raw Score point for each correct answer and - 1/4 Raw Score point for each wrong answer means even random guessing is unlikely to hurt a student. Over the course of five questions on which a student has "no clue" (or doesn't respond due to time contraints), random choices from A, B, C, D, and E would likely yield 1 correct and 4 wrong answers. The result of this random guessing is 1 minus (4 x 1/4) or zero. That is no better and no worse than leaving those five questions blank.

Now, anything better than random guessing, what we call "intelligent guessing" will almost certainly reward the student with more Raw Score points. If for example, a student knows a math answer must be "less than 8" and two of the five answers exceed 8, the intelligent guess is from among the other three. Now the student has a 1-in-3 chance of answering the question correctly, with a 1 point gain, and a 2-in-3 chance of answering incorrectly, with a 1/4 point loss for each. That's a good payoff! With only a 1/4 point diminution and a full point on the upside, any time you have better than 1-in-5 odds, you should take it. Intelligent guessing always gives the student better than 1-in-5 odds.

Many teachers, and even some college counselors, misunderstand this: an SAT score is NOT based on the percentage of attempted problems done correctly. It is based on the total available Raw Points a student amasses. The 1/4 point deduction should not be a deterrent; not taking the guess means the student has ZERO chance of getting the full Raw Score point. Thus, withholding a guess unless nearly sure of an answer is a BAD strategy. The student who does not make intelligent guesses is losing the opportunity to gain those full Raw Score points.

Now to a fact for which I have no explanation: Males are more predisposed to guessing.

Whether innate or cultural, this is a fact of 21st century Americans. You know this anecdotally -- males are more likely to say "I don’t know, but I'll go for it anyhow". In real life, and even in much of academia, being venturesome gets males into trouble. But on the SAT, that assertive, venturesome disposition gets rewarded! In the early SAT classes I taught for Ivy Bound, I would ask this open question: "if you are not sure of an SAT answer, raise your hand if you would leave it blank" and "raise your hand if you would guess". Girls overwhelmingly chose "leave blank" while boys by a strong margin chose "guess".

We can be more than anecdotal though. The New York Times recently reported that the gap between boys and girls' scores on the other college entrance exam, the ACT, is narrower than on the SAT. The ACT does not have the same Raw Score system as the SAT; instead there is no diminution for guessing wrong versus leaving an answer blank, and almost every test-taker male and female, recognizes this.

Finally, a prescription for maximizing your SAT potential:

Students who adopt the assertive, venturesome ("male" if you will) tactic to intelligent guessing will almost surely prosper on the SAT.

After making this explanation, I address the girls in my SAT classes "Ladies, we like you as you are, but in this one regard, SAT guessing, please adopt an assertive mode even if that's not your nature." All Ivy Bound instructors are asked to give over some form of this guessing strategy as part of their tutoring and class work. No matter how a student is "wired" he or she can overcome this one element called guessing strategy. For overall SAT success, the guessing strategy is just one part, and likely to help by no more than 20 points. But these days, those 20 points can make a significant difference. The SAT is a "coachable" test. Knowing the SAT in ALL areas is why students succeed with a good prep class or good tutoring can result in a HUGE difference. Our students routinely report 100+ point improvements with a few months of dedicated SAT prep. A triple-digit improvement opens up a whole new tier of colleges, and brings many students multiple scholarship offers. These are reasons for students to work on all areas where the SAT is coachable.