1. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” SAT Study Guide International Director of Education Brother William L. Powell, Jr. Conclave 2009 New Orleans, Louisiana

2. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” SAT Reasoning Test The SAT Reasoning Test is a measure of the critical thinking skills you will need for academic success in college. The SAT assesses how well you analyze and solve problems—skills you learned in school that you'll need in college. The SAT is typically taken by high school juniors and seniors. Each section of the SAT is scored on a scale of 200—800, with two writing sub-scores for multiple-choice and the essay. It is administered seven times a year.

3. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” SAT Question Types The SAT includes several different question types, including: a student- produced essay, multiple-choice questions, and student-produced responses (grid-ins).

4. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” The Un-scored Section In addition, there is one 25-minute section that is utilized to ensure that the SAT continues to be a fair and valid test. This is a common test development practice, but don't worry— this does not count towards your score. This may be a critical reading, mathematics, or writing multiple-choice section. This un-scored section is used to try out new questions for future editions of the SAT.

5. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” The Critical Reading Section TimeContentItem TypesScore 70 min. (two 25-min. sections and one 20- min. section) Critical reading and sentence- level reading Reading comprehension, sentence completion and paragraph-length critical reading 200- 800

6. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” Critical Reading The critical reading section, formerly known as the verbal section, includes short as well as long reading passages. Questions can be based on one, or sometimes two, reading passages. Some questions are not based on reading passages, but ask you to complete sentences. The critical reading section measures: –Sentence Completions –Passage-based Reading

7. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” Sentence Completion Sentence Completion questions measure your: –knowledge of the meanings of words –ability to understand how the different parts of a sentence fit logically together

8. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” Reading Comprehension The following kinds of questions may be asked about a passage: –Vocabulary in Context: These questions ask you to determine the meanings of words from their context in the reading passage. –Literal Comprehension: These questions assess your understanding of significant information directly stated in the passage. –Extended Reasoning: These questions measure your ability to synthesize and analyze information, as well as to evaluate the assumptions made and the techniques used by the author. Most of the reading questions fall into this category. You may be asked to identify cause and effect, make inferences, recognize a main idea or an author's tone, and follow the logic of an analogy or an argument.

9. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” The Mathematics Section TimeQuestion Types Score 70 min. (two 25-min. sections and one 20-min. section) Multiple-choice questions and student- produced responses 200-800

10. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” Mathematics The mathematics section of the SAT contains two types of questions: –Multiple-choice questions (44 questions) –Student-produced response questions appear without answer choices. You'll use your answer sheet to "grid in” your solution. (10 questions)

11. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” Mathematics The mathematics content level of the SAT includes advanced topics. The following math concepts are covered on the test: Number and Operations –Arithmetic word problems (including percent, ratio, and proportion) –Properties of integers (even, odd, prime numbers, divisibility, etc.) –Rational numbers –Logical reasoning –Sets (union, intersection, elements) –Counting techniques –Sequences and series (including exponential growth) –Elementary number theory

12. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” Mathematics Algebra and Functions –Substitution and simplifying algebraic expressions –Properties of exponents –Algebraic word problems –Solutions of linear equations and inequalities –Systems of equations and inequalities –Quadratic equations –Rational and radical equations –Equations of lines –Absolute value –Direct and inverse variation –Concepts of algebraic functions –Newly defined symbols based on commonly used operations

13. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” Mathematics Geometry and Measurement –Area and perimeter of a polygon –Area and circumference of a circle –Volume of a box, cube, and cylinder –Pythagorean Theorem and special properties of isosceles, equilateral, and right triangles –Properties of parallel and perpendicular lines –Coordinate geometry –Geometric visualization –Slope –Similarity –Transformations

14. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” The Writing Section TimeContentItem TypesScore 60 min.Grammar, usage, and word choice Multiple choice questions (35 min.) and student- written essay (25 min.) 200-800

15. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” Multiple Choice The multiple-choice writing questions measure your ability to: –Improve sentences and paragraphs –Identify errors (such as diction, grammar, sentence construction, subject-verb agreement, proper word usage, and wordiness) Try multiple-choice questions: –Identifying Sentence Errors –Improving Sentences –Improving Paragraphs

16. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” Multiple Choice The multiple-choice sections measure your ability to: –communicate ideas clearly and effectively –improve a piece of writing through revision and editing –recognize and identify sentence-level errors –understand grammatical elements and structures and how they relate to each other in a sentence –recognize correctly formed grammatical structures –clearly express ideas through sentence-combining and use of transitional words and phrases –improve coherence of ideas within and among paragraphs

17. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” Short Essay The short essay measures your ability to: –Organize and express ideas clearly –Develop and support the main idea –Use appropriate word choice and sentence structure You'll be asked to develop a point of a view on an issue, using reasoning and evidence — based on your own experiences, readings, or observations — to support your ideas.

18. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” Short Essay The essay will be scored by trained high school and college teachers. Each reader will give the essay a score from 1 to 6 (6 is the highest score) based on the overall quality of the essay and your demonstration of writing competence.

19. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” Test-Taking Approaches Answer easy questions first. Make educated guesses. Skip questions that you really can't answer. Limit your time on any one question. Keep track of time. Use your test booklet as scratch paper. Mark the questions in your booklet that you skipped and want to return to. Check your answer sheet to make sure you are answering the right question. Make sure you use a No. 2 pencil.

20. “Educational Empowerment: We Are Our Brother’s Keeper!” William L. Powell Jr. International Director of Education Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. For Further Information: Email: natdiredu@yahoo.com Phone: 717-434-9516