May 12, 2006Chat with College Board President Gaston CapertonI had the opportunity to pose a few questions to Gaston Caperton, former governor of West Virginia and president of the College Board, the national association that is best known for administering the SAT's and advanced placement programs. Caperton, a native of West Virginia and UNC-Chapel Hill alum, was in Blacksburg to give the keynote address at Virginia Tech's graduate commencement today. His father graduated from Tech in 1927. Here's a sample of some of his comments on: - Reports that this year's SAT, with its new writing section, caused students to score lower on the traditional math and verbal sessions due to burn out: "We haven't got all the data...the scores go up and down from year to year...We don't see any unusual situation except for one: that is students are not taking the SAT's as many times as they usually do." He explained that scores were down about five to eight points across the board and students usually do better on the test the more times they take it. - No Child Left Behind and thoughts of using standardized tests for college students. "Higher education is much different (than secondary) and has to be looked at in a very different way...what concerns me the most is how many students are going to college one year and not returning." (He said the number is about 50 percent) "Students are not getting the quality of education in K through 12....The biggest problem we have in this country is preparation of students...Other countries are really focusing on education...we're not developing and giving our students the opportunity...The world is catching up." Caperton said No Child Left Behind is a start in addressing the problems and cited low teacher salaries and school years that are too short as two of the major reasons students are unprepared for college. - On the effects of technology on education "I believe we're not very far away from every student going to school with a laptop...We have to better engage our young people in education and make school a more effective and interesting place in which to learn." He mentioned that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is working on creating a $100 laptop that would allow for mass marketing of the technology, the type that would make his prediction of a laptop for every student possible. |
About this blog
Rhode Island native and Virginia Tech reporter Greg Esposito posts on everyday college life, trends and issues affecting the 35,000-plus students in the New River Valley and beyond.
Tim Thornton, who is old enough to have children attending college, is still taking classes and is still fascinated by colleges, the students who populate them and the bureaucrats who operate them. His reporting beat is Radford University.
West Virginia native Anna Mallory blogs on student life topics at Virginia Tech, Radford University, New River Valley Community College -- and beyond.
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