Changes to 2016 SAT

This week The College Board announced that there will be major changes to the SAT starting in Spring 2016. What gives? As far back as I can remember, the SAT has been a test associated with questions full of enigmas and tricks – test preparation books are designed around this. But what does all of this trickery really have to do with current high school course work? How does it relate? It doesn’t.

College Board President & CEO David Coleman stated that the current SAT exam is "far too disconnected from the work of our high schools". The new SAT exam will be more focused on students justifying their answers and "no longer will it be good enough to focus on tricks and trying to eliminate answer choices," Coleman said. The total score will also go from 2400 back to 1600 - what it was way back when I took the exam :-) Here are a few more key changes to the new exam:

• No extra penalties for wrong answers.

• Essay portion will be optional.

• Can be taken in either paper or digital form, not just by using a pencil.

• Will include a passage drawn from "founding documents" such as the Declaration of Independence or from discussions they inspire.

• Calculators will be permitted only on certain portions of the math section, not on the entire section.

• Vocabulary words more widely used in class/work settings will replace more obscure vocabulary words.

These are just some of the changes. Be sure to check out the official College Board announcement for a more detailed list.

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