Understanding College Admission Tests

4/29/2015

Why is the SAT being changed?

• The College Board determined that the SAT needed to meet three challenges:1. The test must provide to higher education a more comprehensive and informative picture of student readiness for college-level work while sustaining, and ideally improving, the ability of the test to predict college success.

Why is the SAT being changed?

• 2. The test must become more clearly and transparently focused on the knowledge, skills, and understandings that the best available research evidence indicates are essential for college and career readiness and success.

Why is the SAT being changed?

• 3. The test must better reflect, through its questions and tasks, the kinds of meaningful, engaging, rigorous work that students must undertake in the best high school courses being taught today, thereby creating a robust and durable bond between assessment and instruction.

Why is the SAT being changed?

• To these ends, the redesigned SAT has been designed for greater focus, relevance, and transparency while retaining the test’s tradition of being a valuable predictor of college and career readiness and success.

Additional reasons for change:

1. College Board faces mounting criticism that the test favors wealthier students2. The test is becoming less popular with students.

Redesigned PSAT/NMSQT

• PSAT/NMSQT will change together with the SAT and is planned to launch in October 2015.

• All 9, 10, & 11 graders will take the PSAT/NMSQT in October 2015

• This schedule will allow students to take the redesigned PSAT/NMSQT before the redesigned SAT.

• Colleges DO NOT receive PSAT scores

Benefits of taking the PSAT/NMSQT• Practice for the SAT

• A mid-high school check on whether a student is on target for college and career readiness

• Detailed performance feedback and suggestions for how students can improve their readiness for college and career, including free, personalized SAT practice through Khan Academy

• Access to free college and career planning resources such as Student Search Service®, My College QuickStart™, and BigFuture™.

• For 11th graders, access to scholarship opportunities

Redesigned PSAT/NMSQTCategory Pre-2015 PSAT/NMSQT Redesigned PSAT/NMSQT

Total Testing Time* *Subject to research

Components

Score Reporting

2 hours and 10 minutes

Critical ReadingWritingMathematics

Scale ranging from 60-240. Scale ranging from 20-80 for CR/W/M

2 hours and 45 minutes

Reading TestWriting & Language TestMath Test

Total Score: More closely aligned with new SAT scoring of 1600 but with additional cross-test scores and subscores to give a more thorough analysis of knowledge and strength

Current SAT vs Redesigned SATCategory Current SAT Redesigned SAT

Total Time 3 hours and 45 minutes 3 hours plus 50 minutes for the essay

Components Critical ReadingWritingMathEssay

Evidence Based Reading and Writing MathEssay (optional)

Key Features Reasoning SkillsVocabularyComplex Scoring

Reasoning Skills plus focus on the knowledge, sills and understanding most important for college readinessEmphasis on meaning of words in variety of contextsScoring – point for correct score, no deduction for incorrect or blank

Math Questions

Y =cx• In the equation above, c is constant. When y=9. then x=4.

When y=36, what does x equal?

• VS• The mean number of students per classroom, y, at

Central High School can be estimated using the equation where x represents the number of years since 2004. Which of the following statements is the best interpretation of the number 0.8636 in the context of this problem?

Evidence Based Writing Question

• A subway system is expanded to provide service to a growing suburb. A bike-sharing program is adopted to encourage nonmotorized transportation. 1 To alleviate rush hour traffic jams in a congested downtown area, stoplight timing is coordinated. When any one of these changes 2 occur, it is likely the result of careful analysis conducted by transportation planners.

Select an answer for 2• No CHANGE• occur, they are• occurs, they are• occurs, it is

Evidence Based Reading Questions

And there were other sensations, less definable but more exquisite, which drew them together with a shock of silent joy: the cold red of sunset behind winter hills, the flight of cloud-flocks over slopes of golden stubble, or the intensely blue shadows of hemlocks on sunlit snow.

The author includes the descriptions of the sunset, the clouds, and the hemlock shadows (lines 34–36)primarily to• suggest the peacefulness of the natural world.• emphasize the acuteness of two characters’ sensations.• foreshadow the declining fortunes of two characters.• offer a sense of how fleeting time can be.

Current SAT vs Redesigned SATCategory Current SAT Redesigned SAT

Essay Required and given at the beginning of the SAT25 minutes to write the essayTests writing skill; students take a position on a presented issue

Optional and given at the end of the SAT; postsecondary institutions determine whether they will require the Essay for admission50 minutes to write the essayTests reading, analysis, and writing skills; students produce a written analysis of a provided source text

Score Reporting Scale ranging from 600 to 2400Scale ranging from 200 to 800 for Critical Reading; 200 to 800 for Mathematics; 200 to 800 for WritingEssay results scaled to multiple-choice Writing

Scale ranging from 400 to 1600Scale ranging from 200 to 800 for Evidence-Based Reading and Writing; 200 to 800 for Math; 2 to 8 on each of three traits for EssayEssay results reported separately

Subscore Reporting None Subscores for every test, providing added insight for students, parents, admission officers, educators, and counselors

Essay

• Write an essay in which you explain how Paul Bogard builds an argument to persuade his audience that natural darkness should be preserved. In your essay, analyze how Bogard uses one or more of the features in the directions that precede the passage (or features of your own choice) to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of his argument. Be sure that your analysis focuses on the most relevant features of the passage.

• Your essay should not explain whether you agree with Bogard’s claims, but rather explain how Bogard builds an argument to persuade his audience.

• Visual of score reporting

Cross Test scores

• Analysis in History/Social Studies and Analysis in Science. Each of these scores will be reported on a scale from 10 to 40. These scores are based on selected questions in the SAT Reading, Writing and Language, and Math Tests and will reflect the application of reading, writing, language, and math skills in history/ social studies and science contexts.

Reading & Writing Subscore

• The Reading and Writing and Language Tests will each contribute questions to two subscores: (1) Command of Evidence and (2) Words in Context.

• The Writing and Language Test will also report two additional subscores: (1) Expression of Ideas and (2) Standard English Conventions.

Math Subscore

• The Math Test will report three subscores: (1) Heart of Algebra, (2) Problem Solving and Data Analysis, and (3) Passport to Advanced Math

The ACTWhat’s on the ACT?

English 75 Multiple Choice Questions45 MinutesTests grammar, punctuation, sentence structure and rhetorical skills

Math 60 Multiple Choice Questions60 MinutesAlgebra I, Algebra II, Geometry and some Trigonometry

Reading 40 Multiple Choice Questions35 MinutesFour passages (prose fiction, social studies, humanities and natural sciences) with 10 questions per passage

Science 40 Multiple Choice Questions35 MinutesQuestions on science-based passages with graphs, charts, tables and research summaries

Writing Writing Test is Optional (we recommend taking the writing test because some colleges may require it)1 Essay30 Minutes

How is the ACT Scored?

• An ACT score (1 to 36) is given on each test (English, Math, Reading and Science), as well as a composite ACT score, which is an average of these four tests. The composite score falls between 1 and 36.

• The tester receives subscores in English, Math and Reading that range between 1 and 18. These scores provide more detail about performance, but they are not actually used by colleges or universities.

How is the ACT Scored?

• The ACT includes an optional essay, known as the writing test. The writing test is given a subscore and a combined English/writing score.

• Students should answer every question. The scores on the multiple choice tests are based on the number of questions answered correctly. There is no penalty for guessing.

When can the Student Test?ACT Test Dates

September 12, 2015

October 24, 2015

December 12, 2015

February 6, 2016

April 9, 2016

June 11, 2016

SAT Test Dates

October 3, 2015

November 7, 2015

December 5, 2015

January 23, 2016

March 5, 2016 - Redesigned

May 7, 2016 - Redesigned

June 4, 2016 - Redesigned

• To register for the ACT, go to www.actstudent.org

• To register for the SAT, go to https://www.collegeboard.org/

• The Cannon School CEEB code is 340-879

Testing Timeline for Class of 2017ACT SAT Comments:

Fall 2015: NotRecommended

Fall 2015:- Redesigned PSAT- Current SAT in

Nov. or Dec.

Class of 2017 will not take ASPIRE. Since most Cannon students have taken the ACT without the benefit of the practice ACT, not taking the ASPIRE should not hamper them in preparing for the ACT. Taking the redesigned PSAT gives this class the practice for the redesigned SAT – should they choose to take it.

Spring 2016: Feb., April or June

Spring 2016:- Current SAT in Jan.- If needed, take

redesigned SAT in March, May or June

Students with strong PSAT scores will be reminded that the Fall 2015 PSAT will be the redesigned PSAT and may require additional preparation. This will also be the test used for National Merit and National Achievement Scholarships.

Fall 2016: As needed in Sept., Oct., or Dec.

Fall 2016:- Take redesigned SAT as needed in Oct., Nov. , or Dec.

Students will be encouraged to take the ACT/SAT Start-up Assessment to determine if they have an affinity for one test over another. Should a student determine that the ACT is the better test for them, they will be advised to put their preparation focus on the ACT. Should the SAT show them in a better light, then they will be reminded that test prep MAY need to be done twice – once for current SAT and once for redesigned SAT

Test Prep

• Cannon’s educational approach matches approach of redesigned exams

• Is test prep necessary? Consider individual student needs.– PSAT/NMSQT prep if scored in 92%ile and above in

2013/2014– Taking current SAT? Check with college counselor– For redesigned PSAT/SAT Khan Academy offers free

prep beginning June 2015

Resources•Delivering Opportunity (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSZbPJbXwMI&feature=youtu.be)

– Announcement by David Coleman, College Board president, regarding the redesigned SAT

•Practice PSAT (https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat-suite-ssessments/practice/practice-tests)

•Overview: Current vs. Redesigned SAT (https://www.collegeboard.org/delivering-opportunity/sat/redesign/compare-tests)– Additional Resource:

https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/?affiliateId=satsite&bannerId=aru

•Khan Academy and College Board Announcement (https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=202&v=E0d3b7uoxCA)

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