137_The New SAT Focuses on College Success™ Skills

The New SAT® Important Information for High School Math Teachers The New SAT Focuses on College Success™ Skills • Critical Reading • Mathematics • Writing The SAT® tests students’ reasoning based on knowledge and skills developed through their course work It measures their ability to analyze and solve problems by applying what they have learned in school The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 Time Frame • October 2004: New PSAT/NMSQT® • March 2005: New SAT The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 Time Frame Class of 2006 will take new SAT • Class of 2005—current seniors Current SAT as seniors in fall 2004 New SAT as seniors in March 2005 (if necessary) • Class of 2006—current juniors New PSAT/NMSQT as juniors in fall 2004 New SAT as juniors in March 2005 and later New SAT as seniors The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 Has the SAT Ever Changed Before? • Yes, the SAT has changed several times since it was first administered in 1926 • The SAT evolves to meet the changing needs of students, teachers, and colleges • The most recent changes were made in 1994 (Adding writing to the SAT was recommended but not possible in 1994 due to inadequate technology and lack of large number of readers needed.) The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 Why Is the SAT Changing? • To better reflect today’s classroom practices and curriculum by replacing analogies with short reading passages and quantitative comparisons with more math problems, some including content from third-year collegepreparatory math • To reinforce the importance of writing skills • To help colleges make better admissions and placement decisions The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 Will the New SAT Be Harder? • No, the new SAT will be designed so that a student who could score a 500 on the math section (for example) of the current SAT could score a 500 on the math section of the new test • 97% of college-bound students complete years of math so the test will more closely measure the math they are already studying • Extensive field trials confirmed that students are taking more upper level math, which is why the overall difficulty of the test is not affected • While the test is longer, field trials also confirmed that the increased length of the test has no impact on the students’ scores The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 The Changes to the SAT and the PSAT/NMSQT® Verbal • Name will be changed to critical reading • Analogies will be eliminated • Short reading passages will replace analogies and will measure the kind of reasoning formerly measured by analogies The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 The Changes to the SAT and the PSAT/NMSQT Math • Quantitative comparisons will be eliminated • The content is being expanded to reflect the mathematics that college-bound students typically learn during their first three years of high school • The reasoning aspects of the test together with the expanded content will more effectively assess the mathematics necessary for student success in college • Math content on the PSAT/NMSQT will also be enhanced, but it will not include Algebra II because most students will not be familiar with that level of math 10 The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 Enhanced Math Section Geometry and Measurement Transformations and Their Effect on Graphs of Functions • The new SAT will include questions that ask students to determine the effect of simple transformation on graphs of functions • Example: Graph of function f(x) could be given and students would be asked questions about the graph of function f(x+2) 49 The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 Enhanced Math Section Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability Enhanced Math Section Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability Data Interpretation, Scatterplots, and Matrices • A question on the new SAT might ask about the line of best fit for a scatterplot Students would be expected to identify the general characteristics of the line of best fit by looking at the scatterplot • Students would not be expected to use formal methods of finding the equation of the line of best fit • Students will be expected to interpret data displayed in tables, charts, and graphs 51 The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 Enhanced Math Section Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability Data Interpretation, Scatterplots, and Matrices–Sample Problem D A E B C A science class bought 20 different batteries of various brands and prices They tested each battery’s duration by seeing how long it would keep a motor running before losing power For each battery, the class plotted the duration against the price, as shown above Of the labeled points, which one corresponds to the battery that cost the least amount per hour of duration? (A) A (B) B (C) C (D) D (E) E Correct Answer: C What’s new about this question? The new SAT will have more questions involving scatterplots and proportional reasoning, of which this question is an example 52 The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 Enhanced Math Section Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability Geometric Probability • Example: If a point is to be chosen at random from the interior of a region, part of which is shaded, students might be asked to find the probability that the point chosen will be from the shaded portion 53 The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 Colleges Requiring a Standardized Writing Test • Colleges that accept the SAT will continue to so, and all will receive the writing score • Many colleges have announced that they will require or recommend that students taking any college admissions exam must submit a writing score (including an essay) beginning with those entering college in the fall of 2006 54 The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 Additional Research on the New SAT Survey of Admissions Directors • A recent College Board sampling of 774 fouryear colleges indicates that 59 percent of the institutions sampled will use the writing score for admissions and another 31 percent are still considering its use • The colleges varied by admissions selectivity and size, and represented a good cross-section of higher education institutions 55 The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 Additional Research on the New SAT Survey of Admissions Directors The findings: • 74 percent of respondents say they will use the new SAT writing score in admissions decisions • 68 percent of respondents plan to download and print applicants’ essays • 35 percent of these respondents said they would read all essays and 19 percent said they would read most essays • 32 percent of respondents will use the essay for course placement 56 The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 Additional Research on the New SAT Survey of Admissions Directors The reasons most often cited by those respondents saying that they plan to read applicants’ essays were: • To provide additional information about a candidate’s writing skills • To compare and verify an application essay • To use as an additional placement essay 57 The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 Additional Information about the SAT Subject Tests • January 2005: The SAT Subject Test in Writing will be administered for the last time • All other SAT Subject Tests will continue, including Math I and Math II 58 The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 How Students Can Prepare Students should: • Challenge themselves throughout high school by taking rigorous courses, including at least three years of math • Read and write as much as possible—both in and outside of school • Familiarize themselves with the SAT so they know what to expect on test day • Familiarize themselves with the different types of questions on the SAT, the directions for each type of question, and how the test is scored • Take the new PSAT/NMSQT in October 2004–the new PSAT/NMSQT will be the best preparation for the new SAT 59 The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 How Students Can Prepare Availability of Sample Questions • The PSAT/NMSQT Student Bulletin, the free booklet that includes a full-length practice test, will be available early fall 2004 • The 2004 PSAT/NMSQT Score Report Plus will be sent to schools in December 2004 and will include explanations for every question (available online to any student who takes the PSAT/NMSQT in 2004) • The 2004 PSAT/NMSQT Score Report Plus mailing will include advanced math sample questions • The new SAT Preparation Booklet™, (the successor to Taking the SAT), the free booklet that includes a full-length practice test, will be available in fall 2004 60 The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 How Students Can Prepare Availability of Sample Questions • The Official SAT Study Guide: For the New SAT ™, will be available in fall 2004 • The Official SAT Online Course™, the successor to One-on-One with the SAT®, will be available in fall 2004 • The online SAT Learning Center® at www.collegeboard.com will include new SAT sample questions beginning in fall 2004 61 The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 www.collegeboard.com 62 The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 www.collegeboard.com 63 The New SAT: Important Information for High School Math Teachers, June 2004 ... section 60 minutes Two multiple-choice sections (one 25-minute section and one 10-minute section) and one 25-minute essay Writing Variable Section 19 New SAT 30 minutes 25 minutes The New SAT: ...The New SAT Focuses on College Success™ Skills • Critical Reading • Mathematics • Writing The SAT tests students’ reasoning based on knowledge and skills developed through... section will be equivalent to a 600 on the current verbal section, and a 580 on the new math section will be equivalent to a 580 on the current math section 23 The New SAT: Important Information