In March2014,
David Coleman, the head of the College Board held an hour long press
conference. During his talk, he spoke
about a number of ways in which the SAT had been eclipsed by the ACT. If you are not aware, the ACT and SAT are the
two tests used by American colleges as a major factor to determine each
applicant’s ability to be successful at their college or university.
In the past,
the SAT penalized students for incorrect answers, included math through algebra
II, included intensive vocabulary, had a required essay, and was a reasoning
test. The SAT questions often included extraneous information and asked test
takers to ferret out data the needed to answer the question, which might be
posed in a circuitous, indirect, or somewhat misleading manner. The test was focused on students’ ability to
reason.
Beginning in
March, 2016, the SAT will closely resemble the ACT. The SAT will revert to its previous format
which only included a critical reading section and a math section. The highest score will revert to the 1600 we
parents are more accustomed to. Like the ACT, the essay for the SAT will be
optional. The redesigned SAT will
incorporate the Common Core standards and will require students to support
their answers with evidence and citations from the reading passage. The source documents for the reading passages
will be selected from a range of disciplines, including one scientific passage,
just as they have been on the ACT. The
vocabulary portion of the redesigned SAT will eliminate the higher level,
erudite words and focus on words “widely used in college and career.” The math section will draw from fewer topics
and calculators will only be allowed to be used on certain portions of the math
section. Keep your eyes open for details
on which math topics will be on the new test.
The redesigned SAT will be available both in paper and in a digital
form.
Additionally,
the College Board is partnering with Khan Academy to provide free SAT
prep. However, free test prep has been
available for years. Most students need
to have informed, supportive adults pushing them to do test prep. Those who can afford higher quality online or
in person test preparation courses or tutors are strongly encouraged to do
so. Low income students will also
receive four college application fee waivers.
Beginning in
the Spring of 2015, the ACT will be available in digital format as well as on
paper. In at least ten states, the ACT is required. The ACT has four sections: critical reading,
math (through pre-calc), science, and writing.
The top ACT composite score is a 36.
Additionally, the ACT has, for many years, regularly conducted
curriculum surveys to ensure that what’s
on the test matches what’s being taught in schools and required by colleges.
Why, you may
ask, did the SAT change so much? The top
reason cited is the fact that they have been steadily losing market share and,
in the past couple of years, have tested fewer students than the ACT. So, business competition is the primary
reason. Additionally, they want to align
themselves with the Common Core standards which are being rolled out in most of
the states. There is a targeting of certain texts, rather than a broad reading
of history in the CC Standards as well as the redesigned SAT. As more details come forth, the adequacy of
this approach to equip students to think critically and have an adequate base
of foundational knowledge will be able to be explored. (The ACT is taking the
CC standards into account, too.)
In April 2014,
the College Board will be releasing the specifications and extensive examples
of the redesigned test. More information
may be found at www.CollegeBoard.org.
In the end, it
will be critical that students have solid grades in conjunction with excellent
test scores in order to be accepted into their target colleges and
universities. As both tests change,
college admissions staffs are highly likely to emphasize the high school
credentials of each student more.
So, What about Test
Prep?.
There are two ends, or
results, of test prep. First, students
tend to score higher on the SAT and ACT, AP and SAT subject tests. Second, students become better prepared for
the academic challenges of college. A
number of schools administer placement exams when new Freshmen arrive on
campus. The extra effort put forth doing
test prep should also assist students on these exams, and in their first
college courses.
For a number of years,
I have been an affiliate of eprep.com.
They are already in the process of preparing to give students the
opportunity to take practice tests both online and offline (pencil and paper). Additionally, they will offer study programs
for the new SAT starting in Spring 2015, well before the new SAT is
launched. (Yes, for a time, they will
offer courses to prepare students for the current format of the SAT and for the
redesigned format.) I will continue to
offer a 20% discount on all of their test prep tutorial courses. Order yours by calling the office at (858) 705-0043 with your credit card info, student's and parent's names and emails, and the name of the eprep course you want.
