Students and teachers argue over the changes made to the SAT
By Jessica Sears
Students are all talking about the new changes that are going to be made to the SATs beginning in the spring of 2016. These changes were decided on Wednesday, March 12th.
The SAT will return to the 1600 grading scale that was last seen nine years ago, instead of the 2400 scale, and the score on the essay will be separate, according to collegeboard.com. Unlike the original SAT known to students, the essay will no longer be a requirement. Students who opt to take the essay will be asked to analyze a source document, which strays away from the usual writing prompts seen on the SATs.
Students will also no longer be penalized for any wrong answers, which will work in the favor of students and most likely motivate them to answer most if not all of the questions, even if they do not know the answers.
All of these changes have students and teachers wondering if the SAT might be going too easy on students. Getting into college is competitive, and making the test to get into college easier could make it even more difficult for colleges to decide who gets in and who doesn’t.
The new test raises a lot of debate. Having already taken the SAT, I can see why they would make these changes. Some of the questions and vocabulary terms used on the test is something that only a certified genius would know. All of the studying and practice tests I took were not much aid in preparing me for a four hour test over material that was not taught in school.
Of course I’m a little peeved that these changes will be made after I’ve already taken the test, but upcoming students do deserve a break. I don’t find that the SAT is a real indicator on whether or not a student is prepared for college, so making the test over material that students have been taught will help give colleges an indicator on what students have learned over the past twelve years.
The changes will continue to cause debate among students and teachers. Time will only tell if these changes will actually benefit students or not.