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Every year most college-bound seniors will spend at least one Saturday morning hunkered over a desk, filling in bubbles on the SAT test. The role the SAT plays in admissions varies from college to college. But enough students worry about getting a good score to shell out hundreds of dollars on prep courses and tutors. Youth Voices reporter and Wilson High School senior Chris Waddy has seen many of his peers get caught up in the SAT frenzy. But he’s taken a slightly more relaxed approach and wonders how well a test score can predict his future success anyway.
This story first aired on WAMU in June 2004. A note: The new SAT goes into effect in the spring of 2005, with promises of a higher "predictive validity." But even with the anticipated improvements, Chris' piece will force listeners to question the effectiveness of standardized testing in general.
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Piece Description
Every year most college-bound seniors will spend at least one Saturday morning hunkered over a desk, filling in bubbles on the SAT test. The role the SAT plays in admissions varies from college to college. But enough students worry about getting a good score to shell out hundreds of dollars on prep courses and tutors. Youth Voices reporter and Wilson High School senior Chris Waddy has seen many of his peers get caught up in the SAT frenzy. But he’s taken a slightly more relaxed approach and wonders how well a test score can predict his future success anyway. This story first aired on WAMU in June 2004. A note: The new SAT goes into effect in the spring of 2005, with promises of a higher "predictive validity." But even with the anticipated improvements, Chris' piece will force listeners to question the effectiveness of standardized testing in general.
3 Comments
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Review of Taking the SATEvery college bound high schooler takes the big, bad SAT. Chris Waddy has a lot of accomplishments under his belt - but a disappointing SAT score. In this piece Chris Waddy weaves together his commentary with a variety of sounds, expert interviews, and live tape from his law firm internship to examine how scoring 850 on the SAT will affect his life. Other than a slightly overlong lesson in statistics, this piece is a tightly written and compelling look at an issue that is very important to a wide segement of listeners. |
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Review of Taking the SATA solid feature piece on the value of the SATS from the perspective of a high school senior. Chris Waddy takes us throught he consideration and the stress he faces along with most students from SAT worry. He interviews a variety of sources from college admissions to an organization that's critical of SATS to a lawyer who tells him a low SAT score didn't affect his career succes. This would be a good feature for any news magazine particularly now with back-to-school shows or leading up to test taking time around the country. |
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Posted on February 13, 2005 at 03:36 AM | Permalink
Review of Taking the SAT
In this informative and captivating piece, Chris Waddy explores the impact his SAT scores will have on the college application process. In giving a short personal description, we are able to gain insight into the type of person and student Chris is. The narration plays a large role in the appeal of this piece aimed mostly at students near graduation or those interested in the application process. The interviews are very informative and do a great job exploring both sides of this controversial issue. Chris creatively weaves humor into his piece and captures the audience's attention with his somewhat sarcastic tone. Background noises and sound affects are used effectively along with a catchy introduction. Overall, this is a great piece for high school students as well as parents and others involved with the application and testing process.