When current high school freshmen take the SAT tests in 2016—as well as those who take the college readiness assessment exam in subsequent years—they will encounter a redesigned test focused on eight key changes made by College Board, a not-for-profit organization in charge of the SAT and the Advanced Placement Program.
Major updates include a new focus on practical vocabulary words; questions that assess how students interpret and use information sources; a new essay portion in which students will analyze an information source; a new approach to math that will stress algebra, percentages and ratios; the addition of more analytical questions in math and social studies; and a new focus on important historical documents such as the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. There will also be no penalty for wrong answers.
Along with the eight key changes the scoring system has been changed from a possible maximum score of 2400—800 for math, 800 for reading comprehension and 800 for writing—to 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.
Martha Salazar-Zamora, deputy superintendent of instruction and administration at Round Rock ISD, said the changes are a welcome step that will bring the SAT into better alignment with the knowledge and skills students need for college.
"I think that this redesign is definitely a positive step for [the] SAT," Salazar-Zamora said. "There's a tighter focus. There's going to be an emphasis on relevant rather than obscure vocabulary. There is greater use of real-world context and analysis of expository text from a wide range of disciplines."
Lisa Brittain, Leander ISD director of college and career readiness, said many of the same preparatory tools used for the current version of the test will remain in the future. Students will still be able to take preparatory assessments such as the pre-SAT, or PSAT, and the ReadiStep exam before tackling the new SAT.
"The new PSAT and ReadiStep exams will launch prior to the SAT in October 2015," Brittain said. "Leander ISD students are provided the opportunity during the school day—at no cost to all students—to take the ReadiStep in eighth grade and then the PSAT in ninth through 11th grades. Since these exams will also be redesigned and released before the spring 2016 SAT, all students—particularly our juniors—will have had an October exposure to the exam that is a good snapshot of what can be expected on the SAT."
Leander ISD also aims to embed the SAT's test structure and format into coursework at the high school level, Brittain said.
"In addition to the work going on in our classrooms, we do offer mock or practice SAT and ACT assessments at all of our high school campuses," she said. "These opportunities are great to work on endurance for these 3.5-hour plus exams ... which is hard to replicate in the 90-minute classroom setting."
The biggest challenge in preparing students for the new test will likely be communicating what the changes could mean for them, Salazar-Zamora said. Students will need to understand what the return to the 1600-point scale means and how they should decide whether to take the SAT's now-optional essay portion. Students hoping to enter writing-intensive fields should consider taking the essay portion, she said.
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 college and career.
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 be 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.
Additional reporting by Erich Hiner
