SAT Blog: Changes for the 2016 Exam

Beginning Spring 2016, test-takers for the standardized SAT – which is required by many U.S. universities for admissions – will be introduced to the new, redesigned SAT assessment, which will have greater emphasis on relevant knowledge and skills for university or college preparedness and eventual continued success. The College Board has outlined changes in the following main areas:

1. Time: The new allotted time for the exam will be 3 hours (down from 3 hours and 45 minutes), plus an additional 50 minutes for the essay portion, which now will be optional.
2. Components: The content of the “Critical Reading” section will move to “Evidence-Based Reading and Writing,” where students will be asked to interpret, synthesize, and use relevant information as evidence found in a variety of sources, including visual graphics, literary passages, texts from social science, humanities, science, and career-related sources.
3. Content features: There will be a greater focus on reasoning testing for knowledge, skills and understanding that are more relevant for university or career preparedness and success. Instead of emphasizing vocabulary in limited context, the new test will focus on the meaning of words and the way wording and diction shape textual meaning and tone.
4. Essay: The essay portion will be optional in the new test and 50 minutes will be allotted for the task. The essay will be written at the end of the assessment, and it will require students to read and analyze a referenced source text and then write a concise response with clear supporting evidence drawn from the original passage. The intent of the task reflects the process and writing skills required for university level assignments. The essay prompt will be available in advance and remain the same, while the source text passage will change from test to test.
5. Scoring: One notable change from the old to the new test will be the return to the 400 to 1600 scoring scale. The Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section will be scored from 200 to 800 and the Math component will also be scored from 200 to 800. The essay will be marked on a range from 2 to 8, which will be reported separately. Finally, subscores for each section, which originally were not provided for the old SAT, will give insightful information on student performance. Test-takers will no longer need to worry about getting a penalty point deduction for answering incorrectly. Similar to the old test, scores will not be affected by blank responses.

For more information on the redesigned SAT and to see some sample questions and material for the new test, visit https://www.collegeboard.org/delivering-opportunity/sat/redesign. In preparation for the current SAT tests this fall, Options Solutions is offering an SAT/ACT Boot Camp session this summer from August 18th to 22nd at our West Vancouver office. For more information, or to register for the session, call (604) 922-8456 or e-mail info@options-wp.chhdev.com.