School district prepares for SAT changes

College entrance exam changes scoring and makes essays optional

When current high school freshmen take the SAT tests in 2016 and beyond they will encounter a redesigned test focused on eight key changes, according to College Board, a not-for-profit organization in charge of the SAT and the Advanced Placement Program. Changes include:

  • Relevant words in context
  • Command of evidence
  • Essay analyzing a source
  • Focus on math that matters most
  • Problems grounded in real-world contexts
  • Analysis in science and history/social studies
  • Founding documents and great global conversation
  • No penalty for wrong answers

Along with the eight key changes the scoring system has been changed from a possible maximum score of 2400800 for math, 800 for reading comprehension and 800 for writingto 1600 with the essay section of the test being optional.

The newest changes negate some of the previous updates made to the test in 2005 when the essay section was introduced and the maximum score was increased from 1600 to 2400.

The changes to the SAT pretty much fall in line with our changes in the [Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills state curriculum] reflected in our [English, language arts and reading] courses, said Don Wise, Georgetown ISD director of high school curriculum.

College Board announced the SAT redesign in 2013 and said the new test will focus on the core knowledge and skills that are shown to be the most important to prepare students for the rigors of college and career.

GISD offers students a semester-long SAT preparatory course available to juniors in the spring and seniors in the fall, Wise said.

It gives the students an opportunity to brush up on their study skills, and it helps them prepare by focusing on the verbal/written portion of the SAT, Wise said. It is a pretty fast-paced course with multiple high-level reading assignments and weekly vocabulary quizzes.

Less than half of the students who take the SAT are college-ready, according to the College Board website.

College Board also announced it will also be more transparent in order to take the mystery out of the exam, providing a full SAT blueprint before the first administering of the test in spring 2016.