1. The New SAT® What Does It Mean for Students?
The new SAT® will be introduced in March This presentation has been created to give educators, students, and parents an overview of the changes to the test.

3. The New SAT Focuses on College Success™ Skills
Critical Reading
Mathematics
Writing
The SAT® tests students’ reasoning based on knowledge and skills developed through their course work.
It measures their ability to analyze and solve problems by applying what they have learned in school.
The SAT is a college admissions exam that measures college success skills—the critical thinking and reasoning skills in reading, math, and beginning in 2005, writing—that are necessary for academic success in college.

4. Time Frame October 2004: New PSAT/NMSQT® March 2005: New SAT
The new SAT will first be administered in March of In October 2004, a new PSAT/NMSQT will be administered for the first time. The changes to the PSAT/NMSQT will parallel almost all of the changes to the SAT, making it excellent practice for the new SAT.

5. Time Frame Class of 2006 will take new SAT
Class of 2005—current seniors
Current SAT as seniors in fall 2004
New SAT as seniors in March 2005 (if necessary)
Class of 2006—current juniors
New PSAT/NMSQT as juniors in fall 2004
New SAT as juniors in March 2005 and later
New SAT as seniors
The current SAT will be administered through January Most high school graduates will take the current SAT Reasoning Test™ and SAT Subject Tests™.
Current juniors—students in the high school class of 2006—will be the first class to take the new tests.
Possible Question for the Audience:
Should students take both the current and the new SAT? If members of the Class of ‘06 were to take the current SAT, they would have to take it as early as December or January of their Junior year. The College Board does not recommend that students take the SAT early in their Junior year. If they take the test early in their junior year, there’s the risk that they won’t do the best they can. Normally, most students wait until spring of their junior year to take the SAT because they want to have covered as much English and Math coursework as possible. This makes good sense.
If a member of the Class of ‘06 were to submit scores from the current SAT, many colleges and universities would accept those scores, but there are other colleges that would not. Members of the Class of ‘06 who choose to take the current test should check the requirements of each school to which they plan to apply.

6. The Changes to the SAT and the PSAT/NMSQT®
Verbal
Name will be changed to critical reading.
Analogies will be eliminated.
Short reading passages will replace analogies and will measure the kind of reasoning formerly measured by analogies.
The next few slides provide a general overview of the changes. We will take a closer look at the changes to each section later in the presentation.
Short reading passages will now embed analogical reasoning tasks within the context of reading and analyzing texts, which is a more authentic measure of how students use analogical reasoning to support critical reading, both in and out of the classroom.
The elimination of analogies is an example of how the test will better reflect classroom practices. Students generally do not encounter analogies outside of the SAT.

7. The Changes to the SAT and the PSAT/NMSQT
Math
Quantitative comparisons will be eliminated.
The content is being expanded to reflect the mathematics that college-bound students typically learn during their first three years of high school.
The reasoning aspects of the test together with the expanded content will more effectively assess the mathematics necessary for student success in college.
Math content on the PSAT/NMSQT will also be enhanced, but it will not include Algebra II because most students will not be familiar with that level of math.
Students will no longer see quantitative comparisons on the new SAT.
The new SAT math section will continue to be a test of mathematical reasoning, but it will now test this reasoning through expanded content. The content is being expanded to reflect the mathematics that college-bound students typically learn during their first three years of high school. The reasoning aspects of the test, together with the expanded content, will more effectively assess the mathematics necessary for student success in college.
97% of current college bound students complete 3 years of math, so the test will more closely measure the math they are already studying.

8. The Changes to the SAT and the PSAT/NMSQT
Writing
Multiple-choice grammar and usage questions
Will measure the student’s understanding of how to use language in a clear, consistent manner, how to revise and edit, and how to recognize an error in a sentence.
Student-written essay (SAT only)
Will measure the student’s use of language: logical presentation of ideas, development of a point of view, and clarity of expression under timed conditions.
Essay practice tool provided AT NO COST to all schools administering the PSAT/NMSQT.
The PSAT/NMSQT has included a writing section since 1997, and now the SAT will add a writing section.
Possible Questions for the Audience:
Why won’t the new PSAT/NMSQT include an essay? Unlike the SAT, the PSAT/NMSQT tests all students (more than 2.5 million) during two days in October. Finding enough readers to evaluate this large volume of essays isn’t feasible, especially when starting in 2005, many readers will be busy evaluating fall SAT essays. The addition of an officially scored essay would also delay the delivery of score reports to schools and students, and increase the test fee. In addition, because the test is administered during school hours, the increased testing time resulting from an essay would strain many schools’ busy instructional schedules.
However, A Guide to the New SAT Essay is available to high schools. This free guide includes ScoreWrite™, which allows students a chance to practice a standardized essay while also providing professional development to teachers by training them to score the essays using a holistic scoring guide. Providing teachers with firsthand involvement benefits students because their teachers will fully understand the expectations of the SAT essays. All schools received 3 copies of ScoreWrite in January 2004.

9. The Changes to the SAT and the PSAT/NMSQT
Skills Feedback
The PSAT/NMSQT provides individualized feedback to students through its Score Report Plus.
The College Board is developing a similar tool for the SAT.
The PSAT/NMSQT has provided diagnostic information to students since 2001 through its Score Report Plus.

10. Time Specifications PSAT/NMSQT
Current PSAT/NMSQT
New PSAT/NMSQT
2 hours 10 minutes
Critical Reading
50 minutes
Two 25-minute sections
Math
Writing
30 minutes
One 30-minute multiple-choice section
Here is a side-by-side comparison of the current and new PSAT/NMSQT. The time specifications are identical.

11. Time Specifications SAT
Current SAT
New SAT
3 hours
3 hours 45 minutes
Critical Reading
75 minutes
Two 30-minute sections and one 15-minute section
70 minutes
Two 25-minute sections and
one 20-minute section
Math
Writing
60 minutes
Two multiple-choice sections (one 25-minute section and one 10-minute section) and one 25-minute essay
Variable Section
30 minutes
25 minutes
Here is a side-by-side comparison of the current and new SAT. The time specifications have changed.
Possible Question for the Audience:
What is the variable section on the SAT? This section does not count toward the final score, but it is used to try out new SAT questions to make sure they are appropriate to include on future editions of the SAT. Statistical information received from this section is also used to ensure that scores across all administrations of the SAT are comparable.

12. Test Content and Question Types
Current SAT
New SAT
Critical Reading
Sentence Completion
Critical Reading: Long reading passages
Analogies
Critical Reading: Short and long reading passages
Math
Multiple-choice items, student-produced responses, and quantitative comparisons measuring:
Number and Operations
Algebra I and Functions
Geometry; and Statistics, Probability, and Data Analysis
Multiple-choice items and student-produced responses measuring:
Algebra I, II, and Functions
Geometry; and Statistics, Probability, and Data Analysis
Writing
Multiple-choice: Improving sentences and paragraphs and identifying errors
Student-written essay: Effectively communicate a point of view on an issue, supporting a position with reasoning and examples
This is a side-by-side comparison of test content and question types. Again, you can see that analogies and quantitative comparisons will be eliminated. There will be only two item types for math (Multiple-Choice and Student-Produced Responses) as opposed to three on the current SAT. Also notice that Algebra II is not listed under the current SAT but is added to the content area for the new SAT. The percentages of the test that cover each of the content areas will shift slightly, but this is not indicated on the chart. For example, Data and Statistics items will receive greater emphasis.

13. Test Scores Current SAT New SAT Critical Reading V 200–800 CR 200–800
Math
M 200–800
Writing
W 200–800
Will include 2 subscores:
Essay –12
(1/3 of writing score)
Multiple-choice 20–80
(2/3 of writing score)
Again, current verbal scores will be comparable to critical reading scores, and current math scores will be comparable to new math scores. This is assured through a statistical process called “equating.” The writing section is completely new, and it will not be possible to compare these scores to the SAT Subject Test™ in Writing, which will be administered for the last time in January Students will receive two writing sub-scores. The essay will contribute approximately one-third to the writing score, and the multiple-choice questions will contribute two-thirds.

14. How Students Can Prepare
Students should
Challenge themselves throughout high school by taking rigorous courses, including at least 3 years of math.
Read and write as much as possible—both in and outside of school.
Familiarize themselves with the SAT so they know what to expect on test day.
Familiarize themselves with the different types of questions on the SAT, the directions for each type of question, and how the test is scored.
Take the new PSAT/NMSQT in October 2004—the new PSAT/NMSQT will be the best preparation for the new SAT.
The best way for students to prepare for the SAT—and for college—is to challenge themselves throughout high school by taking rigorous courses, including at least three years of math. Students should also read and write as much as possible—both in and outside of school.
It is also important for students to familiarize themselves with the SAT, so they know what to expect on test day. Students should be familiar with the different types of questions on the SAT and the directions for each type of question. The most effective way for students to familiarize themselves with the test is to take full-length practice SATs. The College Board regularly discloses SATs and makes them available to students through publications such as Taking the SAT I: Reasoning Test and 10 Real SATs. These publications will be renamed the SAT Preparation Booklet™ and The Official SAT Study Guide: For the New SAT™, respectively. Taking the PSAT/NMSQT is another effective way for students to prepare for the SAT.
Possible Question for the Audience:
Should students take a commercial prep course? Commercial coaching courses—those that focus on drills, tricks, and memorization techniques—often advertise huge score gains. Students should know that recent research demonstrated that coached students are only slightly more likely to have large score gains than uncoached students. The research also demonstrated that about one-third of coached students are likely to have no score change at all or to have a decrease in scores.
In weighing the potential benefits and costs of any special preparation activities, students need to consider how they can best use their time to prepare for college. SAT scores are just one factor colleges consider when making admissions decisions. Colleges also consider things like community service, extracurricular activities such as music or athletics, recommendations, work experience, and special circumstances.

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More information on the new tests is available at

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More information on the new tests is available at