The announcement of new changes
to SAT vocabulary has been greeted with both relief and skepticism. While it
seems like good practice to abandon the rote memorization of archaic words for,
ostensibly, one-time use on an assessment test, where is the threshold for the
“broad utility” of words? How specific can we ever be without the obscure words?
Andy Smarick of the Fordham Institute cautions
us about scrapping too many obscure words in this very valid post.
“I vividly remember a seventh-grade English teacher telling our class, with
great solemnity, ‘Small minds use big words.’
For years, this guided my writing.
Until I figured out how wrong, how profoundly wrong, she had been."
For years, this guided my writing.
Until I figured out how wrong, how profoundly wrong, she had been."
To see how direct vocabulary instruction is indispensible
for success both in English language arts and on the SAT or ACT, check out our
proven vocabulary programs.
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