Emma Peplow
Editor-in-Chief
College Board has recently announced that they are planning to revamp the SAT in upcoming years, changing the content of the popular standardized test to be more focused on knowledge of core subjects. The news of the changes to the SAT comes straight from the David Coleman, president of College Board, the company responsible for writing the material for the SAT, as well as administering the test. In a personal email to his employees, Coleman stated that he wanted the test to focus more on core subjects necessary for college readiness. Coleman did not directly state the specific changes that will be made to the test, but hinted that the changes will act as an application of the Common Core educational standards Coleman wrote previous to his job at College Board. These standards have been adopted by the school systems in 46 states and will be put into full effect in 2014.
Though it was not stated the direct reason for the changes to the SAT, many speculate that the growing popularity of the ACT, another college readiness standardized test, in recent years led to the reforms being made to the SAT. ACT was first administered in 1959 as an alternative to the SAT and finally overtook the SAT in number of test takers in the year 2011.
The last time the SAT was updated was in 2005 when College Board implemented an essay portion and excluded the use of analogies on the test. Since he began his position at College Board, Coleman has been openly critical of the essay portion claiming that it does not require the student to construct an argument, a skill necessary to succeed in college.
The anticipated date of these changes is still unknown. SAT’s competitor ACT has not proposed any new changes to its curriculum in response to College Board’s announcement. Changes to the ACT may be eminent in the near future if ACT’s quick implementation of the writing portion within the same year as the SAT back in 2005.
Editor-in-Chief
College Board has recently announced that they are planning to revamp the SAT in upcoming years, changing the content of the popular standardized test to be more focused on knowledge of core subjects. The news of the changes to the SAT comes straight from the David Coleman, president of College Board, the company responsible for writing the material for the SAT, as well as administering the test. In a personal email to his employees, Coleman stated that he wanted the test to focus more on core subjects necessary for college readiness. Coleman did not directly state the specific changes that will be made to the test, but hinted that the changes will act as an application of the Common Core educational standards Coleman wrote previous to his job at College Board. These standards have been adopted by the school systems in 46 states and will be put into full effect in 2014.
Though it was not stated the direct reason for the changes to the SAT, many speculate that the growing popularity of the ACT, another college readiness standardized test, in recent years led to the reforms being made to the SAT. ACT was first administered in 1959 as an alternative to the SAT and finally overtook the SAT in number of test takers in the year 2011.
The last time the SAT was updated was in 2005 when College Board implemented an essay portion and excluded the use of analogies on the test. Since he began his position at College Board, Coleman has been openly critical of the essay portion claiming that it does not require the student to construct an argument, a skill necessary to succeed in college.
The anticipated date of these changes is still unknown. SAT’s competitor ACT has not proposed any new changes to its curriculum in response to College Board’s announcement. Changes to the ACT may be eminent in the near future if ACT’s quick implementation of the writing portion within the same year as the SAT back in 2005.
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