Mr. F. Le Mur wrote:
> On 2 Mar 2005 13:38:12 -0800, "lukne"
 wrote:
>
> >
> >When mathematically talented 12- and 14-year-olds took the SAT in
1980,
> >the journal Science reported, the ratio of males to females who
scored
> >over 700 (out of a possible 800) was 13-to-1. Now the ratio is only
> >2.8-to-1, a clear sign of progress.
>
> It's a clear sign that SAT test scoring was changed:
>
> http://www.lagriffedulion.f2s.com/women_and_minorities_in_science.htm
>
> "A few years ago the College Board changed its scoring system.
> They called it "recentering." Ostensibly, recentering was
> designed to bring both the verbal and mathematical averages
> closer to 500. There were, however, other only rarely mentioned
> consequences. Recentering compresses the distribution of scores
> near the top, so that the best students become difficult to
> distinguish from one another. The new scoring system blurs
> the line between excellent and exceptional. Truly special
> students get lost in the crowd of very good students. In
> the year just before the SAT was recentered, 32 students
> nationwide scored a "perfect" 1600 on the combined math
> and verbal exams. The following year, after recentering,
> 545 students scored 1600, about 17 times more than under
> the old system.  Coincidence or not, recentering is part of
> a leveling process in education, which attempts to minimize
> differences between students. With recentering, high scorers
> cluster together near the top of the distribution, making
> it easier for very selective schools to justify admitting
> more minorities."


Well, this explains much.



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