DOG WALKS ARE GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH, TOO

By Anita Greenberg,DVM. member of Old Bridge Township Council since 2016

Exercise is important for your dog’s health as well as yours, but one must be responsible while walking a pet.

Keep your pet on a three to fourfoot leash, and keep your pet close to you. Dog walking on a leash teaches your pet many lessons: good behavior, control, as well as obedience. Owners and pets receive many benefits while walking together. It is a bonding experience as well as exercise and companionship. People who walk their dogs are 34 percent more likely to meet expected goals of exercise, with a recommended goal of 150 minutes of activity per week. Retractable leashes are not wise to use as there is lack of control of your pet, and they can get injured or injure others. Retractable leashes should be reserved for use when hiking or in parks. The length of the walks should take into account the dog’s age and health status, as well as weather conditions.

Long walks, over an hour, should not be undertaken for smaller breeds under 12 months of age and for larger breeds up to 18 months, to protect bones and joints while they are still growing.

In the hot summer months, it is best to exercise your pet in the early morning or evening after the heat of the day has dissipated. A good idea is to bring bottled water along for both you and your dog. Walking should be time for you and your pet without distractions. Safety first -- do not wear headphones or ear buds while walking, in order to be aware of other people, pets and cars. Use this time as a training session. Bring treats along to reinforce positive behavior. Enjoy your walks. The new sights, sounds and smells will be fun for your pet to explore.

WAS THE SAT MORE DIFFICULT IN MARCH?

After a parent posed the aforementioned question to me for the 100th time, I decided it was a good topic for this column. The answer is...maybe.

The March SAT may have also been “easier.” Each SAT, just like every other standardized test (the NJGPA, the ACT, the GRE, the LSAT, and the MCAT) is “equated.”

Unless you are a psychometrician, you may have heard that the SAT is “curved.” This is not exactly true. A 10 point curve, as we’ve always understood it in school, is what happens when the best score in the class is a 90. The SAT is scored out of 1600, but there are not 1600 questions on the test, nor is the score reflective of the percent of questions a student gets correct.

First, the SAT is centered, or scaled so that the mean (average) score is about 1060. In 2021, the average reading and writing and language score was 523 and the average math score was 528. The standard deviation (which is a calculation of the difference in scores) is about 100 points.

The SAT is scored comparatively, that is, each score represents a percentile. For example, a 1400 is the 94th percentile. Although the College Board tries to make all tests of equal difficulty, inevitably, there is some variation. As a result, on some tests, getting 19 questions wrong is a 1400, while on others, getting 21 wrong is a 1400. Simply put, on a harder test a student could get more wrong and get the same score as a student who gets more right on an easier test. In the end, it is a wash.

It is poppycock that the SAT is more difficult in any given month. The March test is released to the public every year. It is equated differently every year…and I can tell you from personal experience that sometimes my students perform better on the March test, while other times they do not perform quite as well.

Special thanks to Aaron Golumbfskie of Prep Matters, Mike Bergin of Chariot Learning, and Amy Seeley of Seeley Test Pros for the information that made this article possible. Check out Aaron featured on Mike and Amy’s podcast, Tests and the Rest, at https://gettestbright. com/how-the-sat-is-actually-scored/ Suggestions for a topic? Contact Paul Pscolka at Paul.Pscolka@ivymasters. com 732-485-6480 www.ivymasters.com