The Case for the October SAT & ACT
For high schoolers, the academic year roars in with early opportunities to take the SAT & ACT. October no longer serves as the first chance to take either test–those honors accrue to the August SAT and September ACT. However, the month of fall foliage and Halloween treats is still one of the best times to take either test. What’s so great about October, besides pumpkin spice lattes? Classes haven’t really ramped up yet so early in the school year, which affords busy students a bit of breathing room to prep for the big tests. Most extracurricular activities, with the notable exception of fall sports, are equally slow to start. Thus, students can actually focus on the tests in October. However, other important benefits sweeten the deal for October: SENIORS, even those late to the college admissions party, enter October feeling the pressure to finalize applications. The October SAT dates is…
Quick Points About The Digital SAT
If you’re interested in learning all the details about the digital SAT and PSAT, we’ve got you covered with our new Meet the Digital SAT series of articles. If, instead, you want two minutes of important points about the tests, we’ve got you covered with that as well! I was interviewed on the topic in early August 2023 by WBRC FOX6 News out of Birmingham, AL: Expert shares changes coming to new digital SAT format “The digital SAT that we’re going to be seeing, actually that’s being administered now overseas, is a section-adaptive test,” said Mike Bergin, the president of the National Test Prep Association and the founder of Chariot Learning. “The first reading-writing section sets your baseline and if you do well, you perform at a certain level on the first reading-writing, your next reading-writing section will be harder and you have the potential for a higher score. If you don’t do…
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…
How The SAT & ACT Can Make Us Proud of America
When the 4th day of July rolls around, we citizens of the United States sometimes ponder questions deeper than just where to watch the best fireworks. We think of patriotism and pride, and even the most cynical among us contemplates what really makes America great. If you sometimes–or often–what’s so special about this particular country, here’s something to consider about American excellence… According to a 2014 tally, over 300,000 students outside the United States took the SAT in more than 1,000 international test centers across 175 countries. In Hong Kong alone, one 2013 SAT administration was inundated by 10,000 test takers. The ACT commands similar–and, in some countries greater–numbers of international test takers, and both tests have seen more test takers last year than ever. While a string of practical incidents and ideological arguments have impacted the availability of testing overseas (and access to more current data regarding those…