Digital SAT Brings Student-Friendly Changes to Test Experience
83% of Students Say They Want Option to Submit Scores in College Applications
The New Digital, Adaptive SAT
In early 2022, The College Board announced plans to shift the SAT to a computer-based format. The pencil-and-paper version will be retired and students will eventually only be able to take the test digitally (unless they need accommodations that require a physical version of the test). Moreover, the new SAT will be adaptive — the content of the test will adjust according to each student’s performance within the first module.
TIMELINE
For U.S. students, the class of 2025 will be the first group to take the digital SAT. The new test will be available in spring 2024, when these students are halfway through their junior year.
For international students, the shift comes earlier. Students taking the SAT internationally will be given the digital test starting in spring 2023.
Test dates are expected to stay within the same timeframes.
A SHORTER TEST
The new SAT will be shorter while maintaining its scoring accuracy, thanks to the benefits of the adaptive test structure. The new SAT will be 2 hours and 14 minutes long, significantly shorter than the current test length of 3 hours.
Reading passages will be much shorter. Instead of passages up to 750 words long, as seen in the current test, the new SAT’s reading passages will be no more than 150 words long. Each of these short passages will include only a single question.
Specs were recently released by the College Board.
FAMILIAR CONCEPTS AND SCORING
Content and scoring will remain the same. The fundamental knowledge needed for the current test will still apply. Also, the new SAT will retain the familiar 1600-point scale. Any score on the current SAT should represent the same level of skill as the same score on the new SAT. According to the College Board, the two tests will be fully aligned. Concordance between the SAT and ACT will be unaffected.
WHAT IS ADAPTIVE TESTING?
An adaptive test evolves in response to a student’s performance. Whereas the current SAT is static, with each student receiving the same test form, the new SAT will be able to adjust the difficulty of test content to best suit each student’s skill level.
The Math portion and the Reading & Writing portion of the new SAT will each be divided into two modules. The first module will contain a wide range of difficulty among the questions. Based on each student’s performance on the first module, the second module will offer targeted, customized content. This adaptive structure allows for a more precise measure of student skills, so the test can offer accurate scores with fewer questions.
With the traditional SAT, there is a wide variety of difficulties throughout the test. Some questions may be too simple or too difficult for a student. Many questions are needed so that one standardized test form can provide enough data to generate an accurate score for students across different skill levels.
On the new digital adaptive SAT, the first module will offer a range of difficulty. Students’ performances on the first modules determine if the next modules should be easier or more difficult. The second set of modules is adapted to each student’s skill level, so each student will have a unique, customized set of questions. Fewer questions are needed to determine an accurate score because the data from the adapted module is more relevant, making it easier to gauge each student’s skill level.
There are multiple benefits to adaptive testing, including increased security and reduced testing time. There can also be drawbacks, however, such as the inability to provide copies of the test questions (the current SAT offers a Question & Answer Service) and the restriction to computer-based administration.
VINT HILL EDUCATIONAL SERVICES IS READY
VHES is well-prepared for the new, digital SAT. For over 15 years, we have successfully navigated the ever-shifting standardized testing landscape, and this time is no different. We will be ready with updated test-prep materials, test-taking strategies, and practice-test options to ensure that students will be ready to score to their true potential on this new version of the test.
Questions? Contact us at info@vinthilles.com or call 571-669-4004.
Digital SAT Brings Student-Friendly Changes to Test Experience
83% of Students Say They Want Option to Submit Scores in College Applications
In November 2021, College Board piloted the digital SAT in the U.S. and internationally; 80% of students responded that they found it to be less stressful and 100% of educators reported having a positive experience.
While the transition to digital will bring a number of student- and educator-friendly changes, many important features of the SAT Suite (SAT, PSAT/NMSQT®, PSAT™ 10, PSAT™ 8/9) will stay the same. The SAT Suite will continue to measure the knowledge and skills that students are learning in high school and that matter most for college and career readiness. The SAT will still be scored on a 1600 scale, and educators and students can continue to track growth across the SAT Suite of Assessments over time. The assessments will continue to be administered in a school or in a test center with a proctor present—not at home. Students will still have access to free practice resources on Khan Academy. And students taking the SAT Suite will continue to connect to scholarships and the College Board National Recognition Programs.
What’s Changing
“The digital SAT will be easier to take, easier to give, and more relevant,” said Priscilla Rodriguez, vice president of College Readiness Assessments at College Board. “We’re not simply putting the current SAT on a digital platform—we’re taking full advantage of what delivering an assessment digitally makes possible. With input from educators and students, we are adapting to ensure we continue to meet their evolving needs.”
Among the changes: the digital SAT will be shorter—about two hours instead of three for the current SAT, with more time per question. The digital test will feature shorter reading passages with one question tied to each, and passages will reflect a wider range of topics that represent the works students read in college. Calculators will be allowed on the entire Math section. Students and educators will get scores back in days, instead of weeks. And, to reflect the range of paths that students take after high school, digital SAT Suite score reports will also connect students to information and resources about local two-year college, workforce training programs, and career options.
With the transition to digital tests, College Board is working to address inequities in access to technology. Students will be able to use their own device (laptop or tablet) or a school issued device. If students don’t have a device to use, College Board will provide one for use on test day. If a student loses connectivity or power, the digital SAT has been designed to ensure they won’t lose their work or time while they reconnect.
The changes will also make the SAT more secure. With the current paper and pencil SAT, if one test form is compromised it can mean canceling administrations or canceling scores for a whole group of students. Going digital allows every student to receive a unique test form, so it will be practically impossible to share answers.
The SAT will be delivered digitally internationally beginning in 2023 and in the U.S. in 2024. The PSAT/NMSQT and PSAT 8/9 will be delivered digitally in 2023 with the PSAT 10 following in 2024. More information about the changes can be found at SAT.org/digital.
Feedback from Fall Pilots: Students Say It’s Easier to Take; Educators Say It’s Easier to Administer
Students who participated in the November global pilot of the digital SAT said the test experience was less stressful than the current paper and pencil test.
“It felt a lot less stressful, and whole lot quicker than I thought it'd be,” said Natalia Cossio, an 11th grade student from Fairfax County, VA who participated in the digital pilot. “The shorter passages helped me concentrate more on what the question wanted me to do. Plus, you don’t have to remember to bring a calculator or a pencil."
In the same pilot, every test proctor who participated responded that the experience administering the digital SAT was the same or better than administering the current paper-and-pencil test. Educators will no longer have to deal with packing, sorting, or shipping test materials. And with changes that make the SAT shorter and easier to administer, states, districts, and schools will have more options for when, where, and how often they administer the SAT—rather than adhering to a fixed schedule. These improvements are especially important because students from all backgrounds increasingly are taking the SAT during the school day. In the class of 2021, 62% of students who took the SAT took it for free in their school on a weekday. Independent research shows that universal school day testing leads to higher college-going rates for low-income students.
“It’s encouraging to see the positive feedback from students and educators who participated in the pilots for the digital SAT. The changes to the test are timely and clearly centered around improving the student experience," said Ronné Turner, Vice Provost for Admissions & Financial Aid at Washington University in St. Louis. “I’m pleased that the greater flexibility in administering the test will expand access to SAT School Day, which research shows increases college-going rates for low-income students.”
An Option for Students to Show Their Strengths
The SAT continues to play a vital role in a holistic admissions process and continues to connect students to postsecondary and scholarship opportunities.
When nearly every college went test optional during the pandemic, millions of students still took the SAT. That trend has continued with the high school class of 2022. Most students want to take the SAT, find out how they did, and then decide if they want to submit their scores to colleges. When surveyed, 83% of students said they want the option to submit test scores to colleges. This finding remains consistent whether or not students have taken the SAT and across race/ethnicity and parents’ level of education.
“In a largely test-optional world, the SAT is a lower-stakes test in college admissions. Submitting a score is optional for every type of college, and we want the SAT to be the best possible option for students. The SAT allows every student—regardless of where they go to high school—to be seen and to access opportunities that will shape their lives and careers,” Rodriguez said. “I am one of those students. I’m a first-generation American, the child of immigrants who came to the U.S. with limited financial resources, and I know how the SAT Suite of Assessments opened doors to colleges, scholarships, and educational opportunities that I otherwise never would have known about or had access to. We want to keep those same doors of opportunity open for all students.”
When viewed within the context of where a student lives and learns, test scores can confirm a student’s grades or demonstrate their strengths beyond what their high school grades may show. In the class of 2020, nearly 1.7 million U.S. students had SAT scores that confirmed or exceeded their high school GPA. That means that their SAT scores were a point of strength on their college applications. Among those students, more than 300,000 were from small towns and rural communities; 600,000 were first-generation college goers; and 700,000 were Black or Latino.
The SAT is an objective measure that is available to students at a time when:
There are more than 25,000 high schools in the U.S. No college can know and see all of those high schools and each student in them.
While high school grades are an important reflection of students’ work, the share of students graduating high school with an A average has grown from 39% in 1998 to 55% in 2021.
Other parts of college applications, including clubs, sports, and academic activities, often are costly and inaccessible for many families.