<p>Inasmuch as the document is technical in nature, it offers a reasonable insight into the upcoming changes and the thought process that prompted the changes. I believe it is fair to state that all the non-sense about becoming "more like the ACT" can be buried. The revised SAT represents quite an overhaul, and one that will hardly be the dumbed-down version some anticipated. This test WILL reward the students who have sufficient training and teaching in ... reasoning and logic. Considering how poorly such elements are thought by your average Six-Pack-Joe teacher, this does not bode well for the average students. </p>
<p>My perspective, based on a preliminary review of the document, is that the students who flocked to the ACT will not find many reasons to return to the ACT. I also believe that the SAT is not playing catch-up but continues to be the leader in standardized testing. And this regardless of my extremely negative opinion about the The College Board's infatuation with the AP program and its related cash cow. </p>
<p>Obviously, I suspect that many will disagree, and especially the ACT supporters! :)</p>
<p>xiggi, for those of us who aren’t excited about wading through 220 pages of educationese, have they stated when they will release a full length practice test? For practical decision-making it would be very helpful to be able to try out one of the old and one of the new and see if it makes much difference. Since much of this test is about speed and timing, it’s really hard to draw conclusions about how the test will be from a few example questions. The few questions I looked at seemed not very difficult if you had time to read them carefully, but quite likely to trip you up if you were rushing through.</p>
<p>Also wondering about the math. Didn’t look at that yet, but I am wondering if they simply cut content areas or if anything at all has been added. </p>
<p>Previously math represented 1/3 of the total score, in the new test it will be 1/2.
Not sure if that is a selling point for the majority of students who prefer the ACT.
However in opposition to the ACT, the College Board encourages colleges to superscore the SAT, which benefits students.</p>
<p>Not sure why you’d think the SAT is a total mess right now. In my book, it is as predictable and coachable as it has ever been. Today, you can rest assured that it has maintained the historical integrity that made is resist the assaults of the ages. There is NOTHING to lose by taking it today, and there will be plenty of opportunities to correctly play the game when the next tests are unveiled, including taking the different tests at different times. In the meantime, your daughter (or some of them) will have to sit through the transitions of the PSAT. </p>
<p>As far as the ACT, here is a reality. Your daughter should prepare to take both tests and ascertain which one fits her intelligence and academic preparation the best. And, only based on THAT information, should you decide the best path forward. </p>
<p>Do not get caught in political discussions or … individual results of others. The only thing that matters is how well your duaghter does on a particular test. And you can only decide that by … taking the tests. </p>
<p>The basic message of the “method” will never change. The details presented in 2005 are showing their age. I am sure that plenty of expertise by people who really know a lot about the tests will be shared in the months to come. My fifteen minutes of fame dissipated a long time ago. :)</p>
<p>Actually, on a closer look, that document isn’t nearly as long as it appears to be. There’s a lot of blank space in it, and unfortunately they have so few practice questions to release that some of the examples they give are actually printed twice. For example math example 6 is the same as sample 16. Rather disappointing that they can’t come up with a sample test at this point and have so few questions they are even recycling their own examples.</p>
<p>@emeraldkity4 I’m not sure that most students prefer the ACT, or just that because quite a few states require all their students to take it, more students take it because they prefer to only take one test.</p>
<p>Eight possibly nine states require ACT, ( Colorado, illinois, Kentucky, louisana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Dakota, Tennessee, Wyoming, and possibly Utah) that leaves how many other states?</p>
<p>If students prefer to take one test, why would it be assumed that they prefer the ACT over the SAT?
In my daughters high schools, the test that they prepared for was the SAT.</p>
<p>With the encouragement of Fitzsimmons and other advisers, the College board has just created an entire new market for new prep books, new prep courses and the purchase of new practice tests. Pity the poor student in a poor district who had to rely on used SAT materials. </p>
<p>Meanwhile Kaplan and colleagues will see increased customers who can afford private tutors and classes, as well as those who cannot afford them.</p>
<p>The ACT web site shows many more states than 8 (I counted 21). And there are other states like OH which don’'t pay for ACT for mandatory testing but only use the ACT (not SAT) for consideration of state merit money.</p>
<p>Dadx, the answer would amount to idle speculation on my part. As Mathyone decried, there is no “sample” test available yet. Despite the description of the changes, it would be impossible to evaluate the ultimate changes and the distribution of the scores. Additionaly, we will have to wait for a potential recentering of the test. TCB and ETS might decide to recenter the new test as to create a new average anchored at 500. </p>
<p>Simply based on intuition (and speculation) I think the test will yield fewer perfect 1600 than it did 2400. I cannot help to think that a higher demand on the students’ reasoning ability and critical reading capability will made the test easier. I do not think that dropping a handful of "silly SAT’ words will have a profound impact, as I continue to think that ETS could make a test substantially harder by using simpler words such as table, low, rank, etc … if they decide to test the secondary and tertiary meanings (such as tabling a motion, the smell of a cigar, or the sound of a cow.) </p>
<p>It will be wait and see! And, fwiw, I continue to think that TCB has missed the boat by not planning to release all past and new tests and decided to place its eggs in Salman’s basket. I hope that Mathyone gets to see plenty of new tests sooner than later. </p>
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