Though College Board recently overhauled the SAT in an effort to help students prepare for college, some faculty members at N.C. State doubt the change’s effectiveness.
College Board announced its changes to the SAT are an effort to help students attain important academic skills needed for college, according to The New York Times. Changes include scores moving from the current 2,400-based scale to the old point-scale of 1,600.
College Board changes are set to be in effect in spring of 2016. The highest score on the math and reading portion will be 800 points, and the essay will be graded separately.
Thomas Griffin, director of admissions, said the SAT is one data point chosen in the admissions process from various other factors. College Board research has indicated that, when compared to high school, four years of sustained academic work is the single best predictor of college success, according to Griffin.
Griffin said the SAT and ACT add the ability to pick students that have a high likelihood of success, but it’s not the main factor of the application review for N.C. State admissions.
“It will be important to maintain longitudinal data so that we’re able to compare new test scores with test scores in previous years,” Griffin said. “Time will tell whether this new SAT test will be more predictive of college success.”
According to Griffin, the test will be different and more aligned with actual skills that students need to be successful at the university level.
“It’s a change we will adjust to,” Griffin said. “Hopefully, it will not have that big of an impact on our processes, but we will deal with it as it comes along.”
Jim Martin, a professor of chemistry, said that standardized tests don’t help prepare students for college, and the admissions selection will use results to gauge a student’s performance against basic criteria.
“I don’t believe that SAT scores are good predictors of college success,” Martin said. “An SAT score is just a number, and it doesn’t carry a great deal of weight.”
Martin said SAT changes will not make any significant difference in the college admission process, and that the Board had other reasons for changing the test.
“The change is a market strategy by the College Board to recapture some of the tested market,” Martin said.
Martin said College Board plans to gain a significant financial position by changing the test and the support materials needed. College Board is producing a new market through changes to the SAT test and gaining more of the test market by competing against the ACT.
Martin said the changes will only slightly affect SAT scores, as they test a small portion of what students know.
Courses with a broad, comprehensive study through high school and those with a sufficient level of rigor, creativity, exposure and critical thinking will better prepare students for college, according to Martin.
In the past, students were told to only answer questions they thought they knew the correct answer to, but the guessing penalty has been eliminated, according to The New York Times. Students will no longer be penalized for guessing incorrect answers.
“It is no longer a test of knowledge but a guessing game,” said Deanna La, senior in sociology and women’s and gender studies. “SAT prep courses will now focus on techniques that will guess the right answer.”
The vocabulary words on the new SAT will be terms commonly used in college courses, such as “synthesis” and “empirical”, according to The New York Times. The SAT will no longer use obscure or unclear words like “depreciatory” or “membranous” in its vocabulary bank.
Since 2005, essays have been required on the SAT, but they are now optional. Students who choose to write an essay will be asked to read a passage and analyze the author’s use of evidence, reasoning and stylistic elements.
“The writing portion gives more of a genuine response from students even though the grading of said essays is often biased,” said Candace McKoy, senior in middle grades education. “Without the essay, the SAT would pretty much be all multiple choice, which is not a good way to measure knowledge.”
SAT math questions will have three sections: linear equations, complex equations or functions, and ratios, percentages and proportional reasoning, according to The New York Times. Calculators will be permitted on some of the math section.
The reading and writing sections will have documents from a broad range of disciplines, including science and social studies. For some questions, students will be asked to select a quotation from the text that supports the answer they choose.
The SAT will also include a reading passage from one of the nation’s “founding documents,” such as the Declaration of Independence or the Bill of Rights, according to The New York Times. Questions may also involve discussions of historical texts, such as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail.”
In addition, David Coleman, president of College Board, announced programs to help low-income students, who will now receive fee waivers allowing them to apply to four colleges at no charge, according to The New York Times. In partnership with Khan Academy, College Board will also offer free online practice problems and instructional videos showing how to solve them.
“I think that while this may level the playing field for those from lower socioeconomic families, it does lower the rigor of the SAT,” McKoy said.
According to La, the SAT is not a good test because it uses English. Because some minorities do not speak English in their homes, La said this gives them a disadvantage.
“The SAT will not improve scores for socioeconomic families because the upper class will still have an advantage to access better resources to achieve higher scores,” La said.
Brandon Denton, a senior in history, said although changes give more incentive to lower- income families, they will not be effective in the long run.
“It gives lower income families a better chance to get into college,” Denton said. “But if they’re not equipped, it’s not going to help.”
