New SAT on the way in 2016
For countless years students, parents and educators have criticized the SAT. The College Board has finally decided to address the flaws in its main product, the SAT. It is unclear whether this revision is a reaction to its critics, a change in leadership or the increased market share of its main competitor (the ACT). The changes will affect current Freshman. Sophomores will only be affected if they take the test late in their senior year (after most applications are due). The changes are designed to make the test more aligned to what is taught in high school and will test the common core standards which focuses on both content and skills.
While we do not know exactly what the new questions will look like, we have seen eleventh grade common core Language Arts questions before. One requires students to read and respond to a scene from Hamlet: In this excerpt, Hamlet wonders if it is better to deal with unlucky circumstances or avoid them completely by dying. Which lines from the excerpt provide evidence of Hamlet’s consideration? It is possible that questions in the new reading section of the SAT will resemble this example.
The revised SAT is also intended to make the test into a better predictor of college success (currently, student grades are a more accurate predictor of future student performance than the SAT) by measuring the knowledge that is considered crucial for college readiness and success.
How the Changes Will Affect Current Test Takers
Mike McClenathan of pwnthesat.com is reporting that questions from the new SAT are appearing on the experimental section of the current SAT. As always, the experimental section does not count. However, seeing unfamiliar questions may unnerve unprepared students and will definitely make the experimental section more identifiable.
A Summary of the Changes to the Test
The biggest modification may be the overall ‘real world’ context of the new test (which should be a nice change from a test that currently focuses on “old world” vocabulary). When the new SAT debuts in Spring 2016, students should expect a test that focuses less on obscure (or as the current SAT would put it “abstruse and arcane”) vocabulary words. Rather, the new test will ask them to draw conclusions and analysis from a variety of readings including famous speeches or documents and feature vocabulary words that are actually used in college.
Other changes include:
- The new essay section is optional and reflects a more typical college writing assignment in that students will have to respond to a passage and analyze how the author creates their argument.
- Much like the common core standard test question example, students will have to cite evidence from the passages to support their answers.
- Each exam will include a passage from a historical document such as the Gettysburg Address or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
- The Math section will have a strong focus on problem solving and data analysis
The new exam will be scored on a maximum 1,600-point scale instead of the current 2,400 point- scale. The shift back to the 1,600 should be an advantage for STEM (Science Technology Engineer and Math) students as the old scoring system emphasized reading and writing (which is currently worth 1,600 points between the two sections) over math (800 points). The essay section will be scored separately. The ever unpopular guessing penalty will be removed. Students will only gain points for their correct answers.
How can students prepare for the new test? Think about real world context and read, read, read. Students shouldn’t limit their reading to just the great novels but also the historical documents, informational graphs and charts that will likely show up on the test. For the math, get started on KhanAcademy.org. Both the new SAT and Khan Academy are based on the common core and the College Board has announced that they will partner with the free online academy to offer SAT videos and practice questions.
The College Board will release more details about the new test and sample test questions in April so stayed tuned for updates.