In The Big Test, page 32, there is a section that discusses tests requiring writen essays. It says that these kinds of tests are "highly suceptable to the subjective judgement of the grader and to the mood of the taker on the day of the test, so they have low reliability."

So...why on earth did ETS change the SAT to include a written section on the "new" test and why does the state of NC (and others) require its students to take writing tests? Everything the above quote says is TRUE!!! The eveidence is in this year's writing scores. Those students who performed medially all year long passed the test, while those who performed well during the year did not. Go figure! Some of the "crappy" stories written by our students passed, while the well written stories failed. WHat does that tell us?!