The New SAT Research Drives Changes

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The New SAT Research Drives Changes
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College Board Curriculum SurveyThe changes
reflect national practice

• The College Board conducted a survey of high
  school and college teachers on various questions
  related to reading and writing curricula.
  
• Purpose of the survey Collect data in order to
  examine alignment of new SAT critical reading and
  writing sections to high school and college
  curricula and instructional practices.

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College Board Curriculum SurveyThe changes
reflect national practice

• The survey investigated the following
• How frequently certain reading and writing skills
  are taught in class.
  
• The importance of these skills for students
  entering their first year of college.
  
• The kind and frequency of reading and writing
  activities done in and out of class.
  
• Reading and writing proficiency of college
  freshmen.

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College Board Curriculum SurveyThe changes
reflect national practice

• The survey revealed the following
• Persuasive/argumentative writing was rated most
  important and assigned most often in the
  classroom.
  
• Teachers rated almost all of the 14 grammar and
  usage skills included on the survey high in
  importance, but survey results indicated that
  classroom work does not focus heavily on these
  skills.
• High school teachers assigned significantly more
  fiction and poetry reading than did college
  instructors.
  
• High school teachers tend to administer
  multiple-choice tests more often than do college
  teachers. Most teachers administer short-answer
  tests, and almost all teachers administer essay
  tests.

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College Board Curriculum SurveyThe changes
reflect national practice

• Reading skills rated most important in the survey
  are those tested on the critical reading section
  of the new SAT
  
• Identifying and/or summarizing the theme or
  central argument of a text
  
• Making inferences and drawing conclusions
• Understanding organizational strategies, such as
  introduction, supporting examples, and summary
  
• Writing skills rated most important in the survey
  are those emphasized in new SAT Essay and Scoring
  Guide
  
• Writing a clear and coherent essay
• Using supporting details and examples
• Developing a logical argument

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Why Is the SAT Changing?

• To better reflect todays classroom practices and
  curriculum by replacing analogies with short
  reading passages and quantitative comparisons
  with more math problems, some including content
  from third-year college-preparatory math
• To reinforce the importance of writing skills
• To help colleges make better admissions and
  placement decisions

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Has the SAT Ever Changed Before?

• Yes, the SAT has changed several times sinceit
  was first administered in 1926.
  
• The SAT evolves to meet the changing needsof
  students, teachers, and colleges.
  
• The most recent changes were made in 1994.
  (Adding writing to the SAT was recommended but
  not possible in 1994 due to inadequate technology
  and lack of large number of readers needed.)

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Additional Research on the New SATSurvey of
Admissions Directors

• A recent College Board sampling of 774 four-year
  colleges indicates that 59 percent of the
  institutions sampled will use the writing score
  for admissions and another 31 percent are still
  considering its use.
• The colleges varied by admissions selectivityand
  size, and represented a good cross-section of
  higher education institutions.

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Additional Research on the New SAT

• Most four-year colleges require 3 years of math
  for admission
  
• 70 of all high school students finish Algebra
  II
  
• 97 of college-bound students complete3 years of
  math and 69 complete 4 ormore years of math
  
• 92 of minority college-bound students complete 3
  years of math

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Additional Research on the New SATSurvey of
Admissions Directors

• The findings
• 74 percent of respondents say they will use the
  new SAT writing score in admissions decisions.
  
• 68 percent of respondents plan to download and
  print applicants essays.
  
• 35 percent of these respondents said they would
  read all essays and 19 percent said they would
  read most essays.
  
• 32 percent of respondents will use the essay for
  course placement.

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Additional Research on the New SATSurvey of
Admissions Directors

• The reasons most often cited by those respondents
  saying that they plan to read applicants essays
  were
  
• To provide additional information about a
  candidates writing skills
  
• To compare and verify an application essay
• To use as an additional placement essay

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