On March 5 students throughout the country, including students in Grapevine-Colleyville ISD and Carroll ISD, had an option of taking the first administration of a new, redesigned SAT.
The College Board, a nonprofit organization that designs and administers the test, said the difficult vocabulary section has been eliminated and straightforward questions based on real-world career concepts have been added.
The last time the test received a major change was in 2005. However, Cyndie Schmeiser, chief of assessment at College Board, said it was time for a change after the nonprofit discovered that of the 1.7 million students who took the SAT in 2015, only 42 percent were ready to enter college without the need for remedial courses—a statistic she called “staggering.”
“As we stepped back, we thought we needed to rethink assessment and not only help more kids become prepared for college or [a] career, but we need to connect them with opportunities to help them navigate that pathway to college, which is not always a clear one,” Schmeiser said. “We redesigned the SAT to focus very clearly and specifically on those skills that are necessary for college readiness and success. We are not measuring everything students learn, but those that research has told us are most important.”
Although results are expected in May, Gina Peddy, CISD executive director for curriculum and instruction, said students feel confident about the test.
“We had kids come back from taking the March test saying they felt good about the test, which is nice,” she said. “When I talked to [test] coordinators in other districts, the overall general consensus, from what I hear, is a positive response. Kids felt like they understood the questions, and they had time to really think.”
New test, new features
The new SAT continues to test in math, reading and writing, but the way it is tested has changed.
“The test is a little shorter—there are fewer questions—but we are still focused on testing kids’ college-readiness skills in reading and writing and in math, and there is also an optional essay,” Schmeiser said. “The subject areas are still the same, but the approach within and what we are measuring in those areas have changed quite a bit.”
College Board also changed the way students are able to prepare for the test. As an alternative to costly SAT practice courses and study materials, College Board partnered with Kahn Academy to offer free practice materials online.
“Over three-quarters of a million kids have already gone into satpractice.org and have practiced with over 15 million problems,” Schmeiser said. “We are getting feedback from kids stating that the new test is more of a reflection of what they have learned in school. Frankly, they are finding the questions to be very clear and straightforward, so we are excited and very optimistic.”
Anxiety surrounding the test
Peddy said she felt College Board did not release enough test-preparation materials for the March test.
“Students were at a little bit of a disadvantage because the College Board didn’t release a lot of practice tests prior to the first test,” she said.
Prior to the March test there were only four sample tests available with the new SAT format.
“[College Board] had sample tests out there, but when you consider the previous SAT where they had 20 years’ worth of material that [students] could go to for sample tests, it’s not enough,” Peddy said. “There was a lot of anxiety for students, and I could understand why they were concerned.”
GCISD Director of Advanced Academics Becky Manning said students who are engaged in everyday classwork should be ready for the new test.
“If those students were engaged in rigorous coursework and doing their homework along with studying at the level that should be expected for an advanced-level course, then yes, they would have been prepared,” she said. Honestly, if they have been working hard in high school, they should perform well.”
Since the March test, Peddy said more preparation materials have been released.
“We are glad that there are some more samples out there now, and that will lessen the anxiety some,” she said. “I also think teachers are feeling more confident because the test is truly the alignment of our curriculum to what the test is testing. ”
Preparing for the test
Manning said the district has already begun to adjust its SAT-preparation efforts.
“Both of our departments—English and math—very intentionally create elements of the curriculum to help prepare students for the college-readiness exam,” Manning said. “So they will be revising embedded instruction based on the redesigned SAT.”
Peddy said the new test will change how teachers in CISD incorporate higher-order concepts.
“We are getting our teachers familiar with the changes so they can change not only the way they ask questions in the classroom but the format that they use when they are writing test questions,” she said.
Although both districts have SAT prep for merit scholars, GCISD is expanding its prep to all students.
“Starting next year we are adding another layer that’s for all students, so it will be any student who has an interest in increasing their readiness for those exams—ACT or SAT—[they] are able to apply and attend a summer session, or a class that will take place as an elective throughout the year,” Manning said.
Both Peddy and Manning said they believe College Board’s partnership with Kahn Academy will improve test scores for all students.
“The intent [is to] give all kids access to test prep, not just kids who can afford test prep,” Peddy said. “Now, anyone who wants to improve their score could go to the Kahn Academy, which is online. Anything that helps reduce stress for kids is a good thing.”
