This year, for the first time, the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) takers will write an essay. These students are being advised to write ornately: write as much as possible and use long words. Actually, the advisers acknowledge that such ornate writing generally erodes quality. But it will earn high scores from the hurried graders.
This advice sends a message to our children. “We value writing, but not enough to score the essays carefully. We may have taught you the standards for careful writing. But ignore them when they would require our careful thinking."
What if we advised students to answer math questions this way? Yes, your math teacher taught you how to solve this problem. But the graders will approve answers that are easy to grade, so compromise quality to save them time.
“We don’t have time to judge your writing carefully. But remember, writing is very important.”
Flesch Reading Ease: 70.0 Fesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 6.3
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