Standardized Tests and College Admissions 2024
Standardized tests are in the news again, and both students and parents have questions about the importance of the tests and what “test...
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benparis21
Apr 29
Choosing Between the SAT and ACT
If you’re thinking about taking a standardized test to help your admissions chances, the first step is to decide whether you want to...
benparis21
Apr 29
Beating Test Stress
For years, more and more colleges went test optional. But the tide has turned. More and more selective colleges, including MIT,...
benparis21
Apr 29
The SAT's Proposed "Adversity Score" (From 2019)
[This essay of mine appeared on Inside Higher Ed in 2019, just as the College Board announced that it would assign an "adversity score"...
benparis21
Apr 29
Failing to Improve Critical Thinking
[This essay of mine originally appeared in Inside Higher Ed in 2016. I recently looked at it again and stand by it! Hope you like it.]...
benparis21
Jun 28, 2023
Are We Sure we're better off without Standardized Tests?
Are We Sure We’re Better Off Without Standardized Tests? Critics of standardized tests won a big victory recently, as the American Bar...
benparis21
Jun 28, 2023
Keep the LSAT
It measures important skills, guards against grade inflation, and provides an alternate path to success. The knives are out for the LSAT....
benparis21
Jun 28, 2023
Effort Isn't Everything
For a while, everyone was talking about Maitland Jones, the NYU organic chemistry professor let go after some of his students created a...
benparis21
Jun 28, 2023
Standardized Tests and College Admissions Strategy 2023
More colleges are test optional, and the SAT is changing. What does this mean for you? The college admissions process is changing, and...
Ben Paris
Mar 21, 2021
This Counts as "Tough Vocabulary" Today
Remember “SAT” words? Those esoteric rhetorical coruscations, those shibboleths of erudition, those arbitrary arbiters of acumen? Well,...
Ben Paris
Mar 7, 2021
Standardized Tests Magnify and Reflect Inequality
When the college admissions scandal (which desperately needs a catchy nickname) first hit, I was worried that the sheer outrageousness of...
Ben Paris
Feb 3, 2021
Why Gifted Children May Not Test Well
“I don’t do well on tests.” Ever heard someone say this? Ever say it about yourself, or your child? You’re not alone. Many people believe...
Ben Paris
Feb 3, 2021
The Anxiety Gender Gap
Anna was heading into her last week before she took the ACT, and all signs were good. She had scored nearly perfectly on three practice...
Ben Paris
Jan 18, 2021
College Admissions Testing: Even More of an Arms Race
The ACT’s recent announcement that students will be able to retake individual sections sounds like good news, and as a test prep tutor, I ca
Ben Paris
Jan 18, 2021
Educational Assessment and the Crisis in Higher Education
Imagine an educational program that takes 4 or more years of full-time effort, costs four times the typical annual salary of its...
Ben Paris
Jan 18, 2021
The Thinking Behind the “Flipped” Classroom
Like many other educational innovations, the flipped classroom began with the recognition of a problem with the traditional way of teaching.
Ben Paris
Aug 19, 2016
Critical Thinking is Vitally Important. But what is it, Anyway?
A recent Wall Street Journal article[1] reported a seemingly paradoxical situation: Employers generally agree that critical thinking is...
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