The College Board announced a bold move – they’ve redesigned, digitized & slimmed down the SAT. In the face of growing opposition to standardized testing, the College Board decided to take action. The PSAT will arrive in Fall 2023 while the all-digital SAT will roll out in Spring 2024. From that date forward, paper tests will be gone forever!
Overall the SAT has been redesigned to test analytical thinking more than rote memory, so students will see more graphs, charts and texts that require critical thinking to answer. Rather than enduring long reading passages with multiple questions, students will notice more concise texts with a single question asked of each. More time will be allowed per question, and no penalties will be incurred for wrong answers. The new SAT is said to be much more relevant to a high school student’s knowledge base, with simpler vocabulary sections meant to test a student’s aptitude with real working vocabulary, rather than their ability to memorize obscure words.
Students will take the new 2-hour SAT on their own computers or tablets at testing centers – a much shorter test than previous versions. For students who don’t have computers, one will be provided. Security has become a big concern, and the digital format will allow for a unique test for each student, so cheating by memorization or cribbing answers will be eliminated.
The UC system and the CalStates have already permanently eliminated SAT/ACT testing as a measure for admission to college – they are “test-blind” which means they won’t consider test scores at all. However, the vast majority (currently about 80%) of colleges around the country are now “test-optional” which means the student can either choose to include testing, or not. Here’s the translation: for most schools across the country, if you are a student who can score well on the SAT, it could definitely be a big help. For students who don’t have high SAT scores, the option is there to choose not to submit scores.
If you have questions about testing, please contact us. (818)207-0263. We will continue to keep you updated as changes occur.
