Fair Test

Report on Upcoming Changes to SAT & ACT

Report on Upcoming Changes to SAT & ACT

When College Board president David Coleman addressed the National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC) conference in Toronto two weeks ago, he confirmed that the new SAT, slated for delivery in 2015, will be undergoing substantial changes, especially the Essay section.

Coleman, during his address, posited the idea of a new and improved SAT essay: “What if you were analyzing a source and using evidence from that source. Might such an essay prompt celebrate analytic writing?”

SAT in Amherst, Massachusetts for a mere $4,495

SAT in Amherst, Massachusetts for a mere $4,495

When Henry Chauncey launched the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in 1947, which was and still is today, the exclusive test creation service for the College Board’s SAT, he was firmly convinced that he and his brilliant social engineers would revolutionize student assessment.

Chauncey believed that the creation of a standardized test would help sort out the most promising students, and would be “the moral equivalent of religion but based on reason and science rather than on sentiments and tradition.” (p. 68-69 The Big Test, Nicholas Lemann, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2000)

The Importance of the SAT Subject Tests

The Importance of the SAT Subject Tests

Many consider the SAT Subject test one test too many. Most applicants to the very selective schools are already taking AP or IB exams, the ACT and/or SAT, and the CAHSEE (in California) to determine English and math competency. Why add the SAT Subject Tests to the burden? The UC Regents concur; they’re ending the SAT Subject Test requirement beginning the fall of 2012.

What Happens when a College Goes Standardized Test Optional

What Happens when a College Goes Standardized Test Optional

The NACAC (National Association for College Admission Counseling) led by William Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid at Harvard, issued, during the latter part of September, its annual commission report questioning the value of standardized tests in the admissions process. The report mentions that admissions offices that begin analyzing standardized tests soon question their value.