The SAT exam's distributor, the College Board, has (yet again) announced sweeping changes to the exam. Its president, David Coleman, fresh from his work on the new Common Core academic standards, said in March that the SAT has “become disconnected from the work of our high schools” and will change to better reflect the realities and demands of 21st Century education.
So, what will the test look like in 2016?
The Writing Portion and the Dissolution of “Five Dollar Words”
Perhaps the largest change announced is an overhaul of the writing component. In two years, the essay portion will be optional and the “critical reading” section will be changed almost beyond recognition. The new essay section will allow students 50 minutes to complete—instead of the current 25-minute restriction—and will require analysis and appropriate citation of provided documents to support the writer’s argument.
Furthermore, the (required) critical reading section will focus on “relevant” words that commonly appear in the professional and academic spheres rather than esoteric lists of long “five dollar words” that have little or no bearing on everyday speech. The College Board hopes that this renewed focus on commonly used professional words will allow students to demonstrate “how word choice shapes meaning, tone, and impact” of a passage.
The Math Portion and the (Re)introduction of Algebra
The math portion of the exam will also be revamped. Rather than focusing on a wide range of mathematic topics, the redesigned 2016 SAT test will focus on three primary areas: linear equations, more complex quadratic functions and equations, and proportional reasoning like ratios and percentages. The test designers feel that renewed focus on fewer topics—those central to postsecondary educational work—will improve the SAT’s predictors of the test taker’s likely success in college.
Furthermore, the College Board’s released specifications for the math portion state that for 20 out of the 57 total math questions, calculators will be banned. Fifteen of these questions will be multiple choice, and the last five will feature the “student-produced response” grid answers.
Wider Changes
With the elimination of the writing portion of the exam, the high score will once again be 1600 instead of the now-high grade of 2400. But wait! That’s not all that has changed in the SAT’s scoring system.
In a move that affects both math and critical reading sections, the College Board will remove the quarter-point reduction for incorrect answers on the multiple-choice sections of the test, as well as decrease the number of potential answers from five to four.
Also starting in spring 2016, the exam will be offered both digitally and in print. This development will (hopefully) mean a faster turnaround time for results, resulting in reduced overall costs.
Collaboration With Khan Academy
Finally, the College Board has announced a new partnership with nonprofit Khan Academy to provide free test-preparation services to students who cannot afford traditional (and expensive) private tutoring and test preparation. When announcing the coalition, President Coleman said that “[the] College Board cannot stand by while some test-prep providers intimidate parents at all levels of income into the belief that the only way to secure their child's success is to pay for costly test preparation and coaching,” adding, “It's time to shake things up.”
Khan Academy will have access to previously unreleased SAT questions from past exams. Additionally, Khan Academy will be designing activities and online instruction based on the new standards to assist with preparation for the 2016 exam.
This alliance doesn’t give Khan Academy a monopoly on the new material, however. Other organizations will receive updated test questions for preparation purposes as the College Board further refines the new and improved exam. In fact, ABC News collected some “draft questions” that the College Board has released to give us an idea of what new questions students will see in the revised test.
For better or worse, changes are once again coming to the SAT, and teachers must wait two years to see how these broad statements translate into the nitty-gritty test scenario. New information will be released as we get closer to the release date in 2016. But, for now, all any educator can do is teach his or her students as well as possible—and really, isn’t that all anyone can do, test changes or no?
Additional ISM resources:
ISM Monthly Update for Admission Officers Vol. 9 No. 6 Ambitious Course Names Don’t Measure Up to Higher Standardized Test Scores
Private School News Vol. 8 No. 9 Private School SAT Facts
Private School News Vol. 9 No. 2 Test-Taking Technology Advances
Private School News Vol. 9 No. 9 Teacher Anxiety Is Contagious
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 36 No. 1 Advanced Placement: A Critical Study
