Changes to College Testing

Junior year of high school is probably the most stressful of a student’s academic years. As they work on major projects, they are also getting prepared for making college decisions.  Part of the process will involve choosing which test a student should take as part of their college application strategy –ACT or SAT.  While in the past, the choice of test was determined on the college you were applying to, today the choice is more about which test caters to a student’s strengths. Complicating that choice for this year’s juniors is the overhaul to the SAT which will be introduced this March 2016.

The redesign of the SAT is based on the desire to “level the playing field” for students and testing on content that students have actually learned in school. According to an article in the New York Times, “Students despised the SAT not just because of the intense anxiety it caused — it was one of the biggest barriers to entry to the colleges they dreamed of attending — but also because they didn’t know what to expect from the exam and felt that it played clever tricks, asking the kinds of questions they rarely encountered in their high-school courses. Students were docked one-quarter point for every multiple-choice question they got wrong, requiring a time-consuming risk analysis to determine which questions to answer and which to leave blank.”

[On a side note, there were more serious concerns that the test put the students of affluent families at a distinct advantage because they could afford expensive test-prep classes and tutors.]

To address these concerns, the College Board has made some major changes to the testing format and how it is to be scored. Prior to 2005, the maximum score was 1600. From 2005 until today, the maximum has been 2400, and now they are changing it back to the old score of 1600. In addition to that, there are now 4 multiple choice answers instead of 5, which saves a lot of time and increases the likelihood of getting the correct answer. If you guess an incorrect answer, you won’t be penalized, which means no deduction in your total score. (On the old SAT, incorrect responses to multiple choice questions resulted in a quarter–point penalty. The purpose was reportedly to discourage guessing.)

In addition to these overall changes, specific changes have been made to the individual test sections with major changes to the math section.

The new design contains two math sections, with a total of 58 questions to be answered over 80 minutes. These sections are No Calculator (20 questions, 25 minutes) and Calculator (38 questions, 55 minutes), and are always sections 3 and 4, respectively. Questions remain primarily multiple-choice, with some student-produced responses (grid-ins). The multiple-choice questions have been reduced from five choices to four, and the penalty for wrong answers has been eliminated.

The new exam focuses on three areas; sub-scores are provided based on these sections as well:

• Heart of Algebra (33%) – mastery of linear equations and systems
• Problem Solving and Data Analysis (29%) – percentages, ratios and proportional reasoning to solve problems grounded in daily life
• Passport to Advanced Math (28%) – managing more complex equations

There is also an additional section (10%) that touches on Geometry and Trigonometric Skills. This section is part of the overall score, but will not receive a separate sub-score.

At Mathnasium, we believe in preparing our students early by teaching math mastery in a way that will last them a lifetime. By the time your child takes the SAT, he or she will be well equipped to master the material! Not only do we focus on algebra, but we also highly encourage solving problems without calculators developing their number sense and numerical fluency. We believe in limiting the use of calculators so individuals are more able to think about the processes in their head; as a result, they are able to solve most problems more efficiently. This is especially great for test-taking, because students often feel pressed for time.

We also have ACT/SAT prep classes for high school juniors for the Math portion of the exam.  We test your student and develop an individualized curriculum focused on the gaps in their learning.

To learn how Mathnasium can help prepare your child for College Board exams like the SAT or ACT, click here.