In 2016, the SAT test will make several important changes, in writing, math, and test scoring, that will impact current freshmen slate to take the new version of the test when it is available.
An article published by the Washington Post on March 5, 2014 revealed that in 2016, the SAT “will no longer require a timed essay, will dwell less on fancy vocabulary and will return to the familiar 1600-point scoring scale”.
According to the article, the new mathematics section will permit a calculator only for certain portions and will draw from a more narrow range of core high school curriculum. The new SAT will utilize “rights-only scoring” – meaning students will not lose points for answering incorrectly – and will be available in both paper and digital form.
Students and teachers at Eleanor Roosevelt had mixed reviews of the changes.
Senior Darilyn Mahoney said that tutors and study guides afforded by high-income families, diminish the accuracy of the test by “teaching rich kids how to take the test.”
She acknowledged that not having to study so much vocabulary for the reading and writing section will make the test easier for students, and therefore less accurate, but the vocabulary learned in preparation for the SAT will help them expand their vocabulary in everyday conversation.
And freshman Diana Dang “thinks [the new SAT] is unfair for the people who previously took the test without any changes, but for the people who are going totake the revised one, it’s a great opportunity to score higher since they will be using more common words and the essays are optional.
Junior Nematou Jawara recently took the SAT and is highly critical of the new changes. She claimed the SAT redesign is a product of business rivalry with the ACT, a well-known competitor.
She said the College Board redesigned the test to “make it easier because they’re all about business” and that she believes these drastic changes are harmful to businesses and stores everywhere.
“A lot of people will lose jobs,” she explained. “SAT tutors will go out of business, all [review] books will have to be redesigned as well as online prep courses and in-school prep classes, the juniors’ and seniors’ review books are useless.”
According to Jawara, “the SAT is a joke. They’re making all these changes to compete with the ACT, but at the end of the day, they’re…lowering their standards…and making themselves a joke. The test is already easy, and if they keep competing with the ACT like this, both of the tests will be jokes”.
But not everyone views the new test in a negative light. Sophomore Abiola Adesina “thinks [the new SAT] is a great idea…[It] focuses on one’s knowledge and not how well they can understand tricks”.
Even experts on the test are unsure about the impact the test will have on student scores.
Mr. James Miller, who teaches English and SAT prep, said he does “not know what the new test is going to mean for students’ scores. [The College Board] redesigned the test 10 years ago, and it didn’t make much of a difference for” students’ scores. He said he believes the redesigned test will “have a bigger effect on college entrance than it did 10 years ago…because this is more geared toward the … way students are going to be tested in the future.”