David Coleman, President and CEO of The College Board, told a crowded auditorium Wednesday, March 5 that not only will the SAT be redesigned, but that there will be free SAT preparation for the world. As the audience erupted into applause it was evident this change was well received but it was not the only change announced by Coleman.
The College Board took the opportunity during the SXSWedu conference in Austin, Texas to announce several new initiatives of The College Board as they work on delivering opportunity.
The Access to Opportunity™ (A2O) program includes several new initiatives such as the:
- All In campaign which aims to ensure that every African American, Latino, and Native American student who is ready for rigorous work takes an AP course or another advanced course
- Apply to 4 or More™ and Realize Your College Potential which builds on initiatives to provide college-ready, low-income students with customized, targeted support for the college application process and is expanded to include four free waivers to apply for college for every income-eligible student who takes the SAT.
The College Board will also collaborate with teachers and college faculty to design instructional resources for use in grades 6–12 to help students focus on the work that matters most.
The SAT, as redesigned, will be an exam that is “clearer and more open than in history,” said Coleman. The full blueprint of the redesign will be available April 16, 2014 and the redesigned test will be administered in spring of 2016.
The basic changes:
- The SAT will be offered in print and, at selected locations, on computer.
- There will be three sections: Evidence-Based Reading and Writing, Math, and the Essay.
- The length of the SAT will be about three hours, with an added 50 minutes for the essay. Precise timing will be finalized after further research.
- The exam will once again be scored on a 400- to 1600-point scale. The Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section and the Math section will each be scored on a 200- to 800-point scale. Scores for the Essay will be reported separately.
Additionally, there will be free SAT test preparation around the world through a College Board partnership with Khan Academy. Students scheduled to take the exam before 2016 may visit www.khanacademy.org/sat to begin preparation for the current exams. Eventually, at the same link there will be adaptive software with interactive dashboards so progress can be monitored. According to Sal Khan of the KHAN Academy, this will provide superior SAT training which also happens to be free.
More details on all these initiatives can be found by visiting: www.deliveringopportunity.org.
