The College Board announced sweeping changes to the SAT on Wednesday that would place the college admissions test more in line with what students are expected to learn in high school—skills such as critical thinking and evidence-based reasoning. In making the test more accurately reflect what students learn in high school, the College Board has admirably taken a step to address the institutional disparities that plague higher education. New programs to put free practice tests online and to waive fees for low-income students further serve this purpose.
Instead of asking students the definitions of arcane words, the test will focus on words that students will more commonly find in college courses, such as “synthesis” and “empirical.” The writing section will be combined with the reading section, and the essay will become optional, reverting the SAT back to its original 1600 point scale. To reinforce the evidence-based thinking, students will be asked to select a passage in the text that supports their response.
These changes were designed, in part, to combat the practice of enrolling in expensive test-preparation courses, which act as informal barriers for low-income students. “It is time for the College Board to say in a clearer voice that the culture and practice of costly test preparation that has arisen around admissions exams drives the perception of inequality and injustice in our country,” College Board President David Coleman said in a speech announcing the changes. “It may not be our fault, but it is our problem.
The College Board’s announcement comes at a time in which D.C. public schools are considering switching to the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, a group of states that came together to formulate a standardized test that adheres to national Common Core standards.
The standardized test that the District uses now is a “fixed form” test, which means that students are given the same exam as their peers. The Smarter Balanced tests, on the other hand, offer adaptive testing, which varies the difficulty of the questions based on a student’s performance. Such a testing scheme would better reflect the achievement for students who are behind grade level, which applies to many students in D.C.
The Smarter Balanced tests could offer a more comprehensive measure for D.C. students, and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education should strongly consider making the change, for many of the same reasons the College Board has altered its examination practices.
For too long, high school education has emphasized rote memorization. Now that D.C. is moving toward Common Core standards, which are designed to teach critical thinking, the District has a chance to give students the skills they need to succeed in college and the workforce. Along with the SAT being revitalized, the priorities of classroom instruction and standardized testing will finally align.
“For too long, high school education has emphasized rote memorization.”
Are you kidding? There’s not enough. College students today are woefully unprepared.