SAT Redesign: The Ultimate Flop
The newly revised SAT fails to accurately test students.
October 2015
Jillian Bukstel '17
Everyone can recall the popular saying that goes, “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.” Rather than taking these effective words into consideration, human beings tend to completely ignore them. We remodel, rework, and tinker with things that already worked well and, as a result, end up with an even larger mess than what we started with. The College Board’s recent redesign of the SAT, which is scheduled to be administered in the Spring of 2016, contributes to this idea: as of right now, it looks as if this major change will be an absolute flop.
For those who are unfamiliar with the format of the previous SAT, let me break it down for you. The scoring was based on a 600-2400 scale, and it was divided into three sections: critical reading, writing, and math. The test included an obligatory essay that contributed to the writing score as well as a quarter-point guessing penalty, which meant that you could lose points for answering incorrectly. This differs greatly from the format of the redesigned SAT, which is scored on a 400-1600 scale and is split into two sections: evidence-based reading and writing and math. In contrast to its predecessor, the redesign includes an optional essay as well as no guessing penalty for multiple choice questions.
The difference between the two tests stretches far beyond the format, and the actual content on the new SAT may be the greatest change. The College Board hoped to prioritize the content that would reflect the reading and math current students will encounter in college and in their future work lives. However, in their attempt to do such a thing, they’ve formulated a test that does not mirror any of the material or the skills students learn in the classroom. Specifically, in the no-calculator math section, students are expected to complete problems that they would never be asked to do without the assistance of a calculator in school or in the real world.
Mrs. Pinner, a calculus teacher who also works as an SAT and ACT tutor, is certainly not the biggest fan of the redesigned test. “I do not like this test for multiple reasons. The first half of the test is entirely reading intensive. It’s literally an hour and forty minutes of reading passages, straight through,” she presents. “Also there’s no history of results to compare yourself to and there won’t be any data to analyze until the end of May.”
Some students excel in standardized tests and others don’t perform as well as they should. Whatever type of test taker you may be, it is important to heed the warning that the redesigned SAT is very difficult. From the no-calculator math section to the tedious reading and writing aspect, it is safe to say that it is a monster of a test. To make matters worse, there is little practice that has been distributed to assist students in preparing for the test.
Before you plan on taking the redesigned SAT, ensure that you are educated on all its information and the changes that have been made. Preparation for these standardized tests will allow you to feel cool and confident when you walk through the doors on test day!