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January 28th, 2015

Opportunity Knocking? – SAT Changes

“What this country needs is not more tests, but more opportunities.”

                                             – David Coleman, President, College Board

With these words a new era was launched at College Board, an era that will have a big impact on your child. So why the radical redesign of this venerable, 90-year old test? Lots of reasons, actually.

One well-researched criticism of the SAT is that it favors students from affluent families who can afford expensive prep. College Board, maker of the SAT, hopes to level the playing field by first offering income-eligible students four free college application fee waivers. They have also announced an “all in” campaign, the goal of which is to encourage Latino, African American and Native American students to take at least one AP course.

Another impetus for the wholesale change is one you might not expect. Through the influenceAllNew2016SAT of the SAT, College Board is trying to promote excellent classroom work and accelerate students who are behind. To this end, the company has aligned the new SAT with with the Common Core curriculum. In fact, the new president of College Board, David Coleman, was a key player in creating the Common Core standards. More concretely, College Board will support best practice in classrooms by working with teachers and college faculty to design course frameworks and modules for use in grades 6–12.

A cynic might claim that the changes are because the SAT’s growth has slowed. This is due in part to the above critiques which led a group of universities to adopt a tests-optional admission policy. Then in 2012, for the first time ever, more students took the ACT than the SAT. Many reasons contributed to the ACT’s ascendancy, but students discovered they scored better on this upstart with less prep because it is more direct and better reflects what students do in high school.

Will the redesigned SAT truly open up more opportunities for all? Parents, educators, and students will begin finding out in the spring of 2016.

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