Meet The Digital SAT: MATH
Until 2015, the SAT was considered the test for students with strong reading ability, while the ACT catered to those with more of a math focus. The last revision, however, reversed the calculus by creating a math-forward assessment that emphasized more advanced topics, graphical literacy, and no-calculator math than ever. The revision was also intended to align the SAT with the Common Core philosophy of testing fewer topics in greater depth than prior assessments. To be fair, College Board ran from the politically unpalatable Common Core curriculum alignment not long after launch and never made good on the promise of fewer math topics anyway; on the contrary, the more recent version of the test required knowledge of more concepts and formulas than ever. Interestingly, the digital SAT appears, at least in its earliest days, to be making a more earnest commitment to mathematical depth rather than breadth: Interestingly, the content…
Meet The Digital SAT: READING AND WRITING
While the digital deployment and multistage adaptive aspects of the new SAT and PSAT certainly draw attention as the biggest changes to these tests, one other revision deserves just as much attention. The SAT has always tested reading, and the digital SAT continues to refine just what aspects of reading matter most in the current educational environment. As usual, this portion of the test looks very different from its most immediate predecessor. Gone is the emphasis on long reading passages, linked evidence questions, and the dreaded historical documents. To be fair, most test takers won’t be sorry to see those elements go. What does the digital SAT offer instead? Expect questions evaluating many of the same fundamental reading skills in some new ways: Questions focusing on the enduring themes of thesis, structure, and both close and inferential reading will be attached to reading passages of roughly 100 words each. Each…
Meet The Digital SAT: SCORING
The computer-based administration of the new digital SAT and PSAT may appear to be the most significant transformation to these enduring exams. However, many schools that use the SAT or ACT as state tests have been administering computer versions of the paper test for years. CBT SATs and ACTs have been the norm in some parts of the world for years. The dSAT won’t be like those tests. The digital SAT represents a massive departure from the way the test has historically been scored. No longer will every question from the easiest to the most challenging be worth the same single raw score point. Instead, the dSAT is a section adaptive test. Adaptive tests often entail complex scoring algorithms, but the concept behind them is simple. In an adaptive test, performance on one question or section determines the difficulty and corresponding score weight of upcoming questions or sections. The digital…
Meet The Digital SAT: STRUCTURE
For nearly a century, the SAT has been revised on a regular basis to reflect educational priorities in reading, writing, and math. However, every version of the test has shared one fundamental trait–it was administered on paper. Not anymore! The newest version of the SAT has been rebuilt from the ground up to embody the first truly digital expression of this assessment, as opposed to current computer-based presentations of the paper-and-pencil SAT and ACT. Such a dramatic departure from the norm demands careful consideration of all the elements of testing we typically take for granted: 1. WHERE? The digital SAT and PSAT will still, at least for the near future, be administered at conventional test centers, which usually means high schools. 2. WHEN? Again, the immediate future of the digital SAT will follow the current practice of morning administrations on national test dates, along with various Sunday and school-day administrations.…
Meet The Digital SAT: INTRODUCTION
Every decade, it seems, gets its own version of the SAT. This exam–one of America’s most influential and controversial tests–has endeavored to reflect college readiness and the nation’s educational priorities since 1926. The newest revision charts a bold path to the future of standardized assessments while still channeling the reading, writing, and quantitative problem solving priorities that have been foundational to SAT success for nearly a century. The most visible and glaring change will be an entirely digital SAT and PSAT for just about every student. The dSAT, as the new version of the test is known, has been the only SAT available outside the United States since March 2023. Domestic students will experience the revised exam in two stages: October 2023: Students will take the digital PSAT. March 2024: Students will begin taking the digital SAT. At this time, College Board holds that the switch from the current version…
Early Testing Game Plan for the Class of 2025
If your son or daughter is currently entering 10th grade, you may not be entirely steeped in every detail of every aspect of college admissions… at least not yet! But decisions made early in high school often prove influential for better or worse once college applications start shipping. You and your teen should be thinking about academic rigor, extracurricular commitments, and innovative ways to pursue their most particular interests. And, for just a moment, you might think about admissions tests. Make no mistake: 10th grade is too soon for most (but not all) teens to take the SAT or ACT. But change is coming to the SAT, and we’re already getting questions about how to proceed. The SAT is going fully digital in the United States in 2024. American students will see a digital PSAT in October 2023, but expect the March 2024 SAT to be the first domestic digital…