The
College Board has promised that the new SAT will test
skills that are more predictive of success in college and beyond. Only time will tell if they’ve succeeded in
that regard. Our goal right now is to gain a better understanding of changes
you’ll see on the new test.
In today’s blog, you’ll
find details about some of the key changes in each of the new SAT components: Scoring,
Vocabulary, Reading, Writing and Language, Math, and the Essay.
SCORING
In terms of format and
scoring:
·
The maximum score
for the new SAT is 1600 points.
- The Reading and Writing sections have been combined into one section on
the new SAT,
with a maximum score of 800. Writing is now known as “Writing and
Language”.
- The Math section still has a maximum score of 800.
·
The Essay is now
optional, with a maximum score of 24.
·
There will be only four
answer choices in multiple-choice questions – not five.
·
Students will no longer
be penalized for incorrect answers.
VOCABULARY
·
Sentence completion questions like
the one below are gone!
·
The new SAT questions will focus on
vocabulary in the context of text passages.
·
The subject matter of passages are
pre-determined: 1 passage will be related to US and
World Literature, 2 related
to History and Social Studies, and 2 to Science.
READING
·
All questions are now based on
passages of text between 1-3
paragraphs long. The questions will build on each other, and will ask the
student to cite evidence for the
answer in the previous question. See this example:
· Some passages will
now contain graphics and figures that illustrate data, requiring the student to
interpret the data in the context of the overall passage, as in the example
below.
· This type of data analysis and graph
reading has never before been tested on the Reading section of the SAT.
Especially tricky questions will likely be inference questions - for example,
"the author is least likely to support which interpretation of the data in
this figure?"
·
It’s important to note that the
science passages will not be heavily focused on the subject of science. You
will need to know how to read graphs and understand their relevance to the
passage.
WRITING and LANGUAGE
·
The
Writing and Language section of the new SAT will no longer have questions that
test isolated grammatical rules, like the following example which tests Number
Agreement. In this question, the error is B - "rodeo" is a singular
noun, so "they predate" should be replaced by "it
predates." The SAT complicates this question by inserting a confusing
phrase in between ("includes games...century").
·
Questions
in the Writing and Language section are also entirely passage-based, and test
grammar and writing logic. Each
question will refer to a sentence within the associated passage.
- Most
grammatical questions will still deal with just a single sentence. In the following passage citing author Don
Kingman, questions 1-3 can be answered in isolation without reading the rest of
the passage.
- Other
questions will require the student to read the entire passage and understand its organization. Question
4 requires that you know the context of the sentence to choose the right word.
Question 5 requires that you understand the point of the paragraph to determine
the most logical flow.
MATH
·
The Math section has changed the
least. There are some problems that ask
the student to take multiple mathematical steps, and one section bans the use
of calculators.
·
Here again, you’ll see greater
emphasis on the interpretation and analysis of data in graphs. Prompts for questions will be based on more
current, realistic scenarios.
·
Geometry questions, which make up to
30% of the math questions, will be reduced to 10%.
·
Trigonometry will appear on the new
SAT, but will make up fewer than 5% of questions.
ESSAY
·
The essay is now 50 minutes long
instead of 25 minutes.
·
The student is presented with a
passage written by an author who takes a specific position on an issue. The
student's job is to write an analysis that describes how the author uses data
and facts, reasoning, and rhetorical devices that strengthen their argument.
·
The essay is scored on a scale of 2-8
each on Reading, Analysis, and Writing. The maximum score of 24 is not combined
with the Reading or Writing and Language sections.
CONCLUSION
·
The new SAT heavily
resembles the ACT. The new SAT Writing and Language
section resembles the ACT English section in its format and the skills tested.
The allocation of SAT Reading passages mirrors what the ACT has been doing for
years, and the Math sections on both the SAT and ACT are now closer than ever
before.
·
While the scope and detail of the SAT
test prep program will change, students
will still benefit from test prep. The College Board acknowledges that test
prep helps improve SAT scores. We will now have to teach logic, reasoning
and higher-level analysis. This broadens the scope of test prep from simply preparing
for the test to teaching meaningful skills that are important to college and
other aspects of life.
