The spring of 2016 will be bringing new expectations for students taking the SAT’s. The College Board will be changing what the SAT tests the students on and the manner in which the tests will be scored in order to better prepare students for college.
Presently, the SAT contains three sections: math, critical reading, writing and a mandatory essay which is party of the writing section. Barring the essay, the entire test is multiple choice and student produced response. Traditionally, students are advised to leave questions blank if they don’t know the answer They are deducted .25 points for a wrong answer and 0 for a blank answer.
The revised 2016 version of the SAT will be radically different. The reading and writing section will require students to be able to cite evidence for the answer, as well as include a wide range of topics in the reading passages. The portion of the test that gave students a sentence and asked them to fill in the correct vocabulary word will be removed from the test altogether. Instead, students will be asked to consider the context of a vocabulary word. Previously, the vocabulary section was, more or less, an evaluation on testers’ skill to memorize definitions.
Currently, a calculator is permitted for the entire math portion of the SAT. In 2016, the students will only be allowed a calculator for isolated parts of the math section. The math section will focus on data analysis and real world problem-solving, algebra and advanced math concepts.
Finally, the test will be graded on a 1600 point scale instead of a 2400 point scale. Test takers will not lose points for choosing wrong answers, but instead only receive points for the questions they answered correctly.
“No longer will it be good enough to focus on tricks and trying to eliminate answer choices,” College Board President and CEO David Coleman said. “We are not interested in students just picking an answer, but justifying their answers.”
The essay, counted as part of the writing section, will now be optional and scored separately. The test will take about three hours, provided another 50 minutes for the essay. For the first time, the College Board will partner with Khan Academy to provide free test preparation materials, starting in spring 2015.
Many students are cheering the new changes; others feel bitter they didn’t come sooner. But questions are circulating as to why the test needed to be changed in the first place. David Coleman made a public announcement explaining the support behind these changes. “Admissions officers and counselors have said they find the data from admissions exams useful, but are concerned that these exams have become disconnected from the work of high school classrooms and surrounded by costly test preparation,” Coleman said. The goal of these changes is to make students more prepared for college, and connect what is being taught in the classroom to what is being tested on the SAT. Test makers are claiming that the material on the test has become too far removed from what students are learning in school and they want students to study more for the test instead of just memorizing words and tips.
These changed will not affect the students who plan to take the SAT’s this year. Changes will begin to occur in 2015 and the new test will be administered for the first time in 2016.