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SAT Heads for an Overhaul

By Tiffani Razavi (TIE Staff Writer)
08-May-13
SAT Heads for an Overhaul


The once-unrivalled admissions test for American universities, the SAT, is scheduled for an overhaul. The College Board, the non-profit organization that administers the test, announced in February that it was time to redesign the SAT “so that it better meets the needs of students, schools, and colleges at all levels.”
President of the Board David Coleman conveyed the decision by e-mail to all members of the organization, explaining that the Board “will develop an assessment that mirrors the work that students will do in college so that they will practice the work they need to do to complete college. An improved SAT will strongly focus on the core knowledge and skills that evidence shows are most important to prepare students for the rigors of college and career.”
The decision comes as little surprise to many in the field, especially as for the first time since its launch in 1926, last year was the first time the SAT was not the most widely taken college entrance exam. The American College Testing (ACT) exam, introduced in 1959 in response to perceived weaknesses in the SAT, edged ahead by 2,000 or so test-takers in 2012.
Critics of the SAT are quick to point out that the last major revision of the test was less than a decade ago. “Completely revamping the SAT in less than 10 years from its last makeover may be off-putting to the biggest stakeholders involved—the students,” said Shaan Patel, Director of SAT programs for Veritas Prep (a test-prep service). “Students would rather prepare for a test that has been consistent for many years, rather than prepare for a brand new game. The College Board could be shooting itself in the foot by revamping the SAT again, which would likely result in even more students choosing to take the ACT exam.”
For some, the decision to substantially review it again so soon is tantamount to an admission of failure regarding the last batch of changes, made in 2005. The overhaul at that time included the addition of a writing test and the removal of contentious analogy questions, which had drawn criticism for cultural and socio-economic bias. Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director of FairTest, a non-profit organization with the objective to end the misuse of standardized tests, says that “the latest version of the test is, in fact, no better than its predecessor in predicting academic success in higher education or in creating a level playing field to assess an increasingly diverse student body. The only significant changes were that it was longer and cost test-takers more.”
He adds, “As a result, more than 80 additional institutions have adopted test-optional or test flexible policies, and the ACT overtook the SAT as the nation’s most popular exam for colleges that still require a test. Those developments left the new College Board leadership with no choice but to try to ‘reformulate’ its product in an effort to maintain market share and relevance.”
In his communication with College Board colleagues, Mr. Coleman outlined three broad objectives that would drive the redesign process:
• Increase the value of the SAT to students, by focusing on a core set of knowledge and skills that are essential to college and career success; reinforcing the practice of enriching and valuable schoolwork; fostering greater opportunities for students to make successful transitions into postsecondary education; and ensuring equity and fairness.
• Increase the value of the SAT to higher education professionals by ensuring that the SAT meets the evolving needs of admissions officers, faculty, and other administrators, and that the SAT remains a valid and reliable predictor of college success.
• Increase the value of the SAT to K-12 educators, administrators, and counselors by strengthening the alignment of the SAT to college and career readiness; ensuring that the content reflects excellence in classroom instruction; and developing companion tools that allow educators to use SAT results to improve curriculum and instruction.
How do these sought-after improvements in the value of the SAT translate into changes in the test itself? It is almost certain that the writing test will get a makeover, as there is widespread concern that in more ways than one the current test does not assess the kind of writing students are likely to undertake in college.
For example Lynn O’Shaughnessy, an author, consultant, and speaker on issues that parents with college-bound teenagers face, notes that the exam does not require students to include facts in their essay. Furthermore, even glaring factual errors are not penalized.
In a talk last year, College Board president Coleman himself said, “I have a problem with the SAT writing ... if you look at the way the SAT assessment is designed, when you write an essay even if it is an opinion piece, there is no source information given to you. So, in other words, you write your opinion on a subject, but there is no fact on the table. If writing is to be ready for the demands of career and college, it must be precise, it must be accurate, it must draw upon evidence.
“Now I think that is warranted by tons of information we see from surveys of college professors, from evidence we have from other sources, so I think there is good reason to think about a design of SAT where, rather than kids just writing an essay, there is source material that they are analyzing.”
Apart from the writing test, the College Board may be looking to increase value by making the SAT more user-friendly. Bob Schaeffer of FairTest provides a raft of examples from perceptions of SAT’s competitor, the ACT. For instance, content coverage is more familiar to many students (reading, mathematics, English, science), compared with the less curriculum-linked SAT, and there is no deduction for wrong answers, doing away with strategizing to avoid the SAT guessing penalty.
Could the new SAT look more like the ACT? Mr. Coleman indicated that there would be many opportunities for input from educators on how to improve the SAT. For now, though, there are no comments from College Board officials regarding the process.




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