By Meg Peters
Review Co-Editor
Starting in April 2016, college bound Lake Orion students will be required to take the SAT state-administered college assessment exam in place of the ACT standardized test.
The state mandated switch also comes with a brand new SAT test, redesigned from ten short sections to five longer sections. The redesign will test reading, math, English and science with an optional writing essay.
The state’s transition to the SAT to assess high school students? learning was decided in January 2015, after nearly eight years of utilizing the ACT.
Although the SAT was available to students the past eight years, they had to pay for it and take it outside of school. Now the redesigned SAT will be offered for free to all high school students during school, and will focus on more relevant skill sets, according to Lake Orion Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Heidi Mercer.
‘The state was looking for a test to better align with the new standards,? she said. ‘It is more relevant to what students are expected to do today with analyzing, problem solving, critical thinking.???
The last chance to take the current SAT standardized test is the January 2016 test date as the state prepares to switch over to the redesigned SAT for the first test in March 2016.
What’s new?
The redesigned SAT includes components from both the current SAT and ACT format, and will resemble the ACT in structure.
What will be different is its focus as an aptitude test, with a clearer focus on critical thinking, real world problems, and a more analytical approach to the essay option.
The redesigned five-section SAT will be comprised of three tests and an optional essay, and will not test science in the traditional stand-alone science section. Instead, science questions will be included throughout the math, reading and writing/language tests.
If students opt to write the essay they will be given an additional 50 minutes, to make the total test time approximately three hours and fifty minutes. The current SAT is three hours and forty-five minutes.
Also different is the scoring.?
Like the ACT, there will be no deduction for wrong answers with the redesigned SAT test, unlike the current SAT which subtracts a quarter of a point for each incorrect multiple choice answer. ?
Students can score between 200 and 800 points for the evidence-based reading and writing section, and the same goes for the math section, for a combined possible total between 400 and 1600. Cross-test scores will determine points for science and history/social studies questions. The essay score will be reported separately.
There are also eight key changes to the context of the redesigned SAT.
1.??????’Relevant words in context: more focus on words that will be used in college instead of obscure vocabulary.
2.??????’Command of evidence: Students will demonstrate their skills in interpreting and synthesizing, using evidence provided in a wide range of sources.
3.??????’Essay analyzing a source: The optional essay portion will more closely align with college writing assignments by reading a passage and arguing for the author’s reasoning and rhetoric.
4.??????’Focus on math that matters most: Three areas of math will be the focus, including problem solving and data analysis; algebra, and advanced math including trigonometry.
5.??????’Problems grounded in real-world contexts: Questions will pertain to real world and directly relate to work performed in college and careers.
6.??????’Analysis in science and history/social studies: Students will use reading, writing, language and math skills to solve problems across a variety of contexts.
7.??????’Founding documents and great global conversation: Each redesign will test students on a passage from a founding document or ongoing global conversation about freedom, justice and human dignity.
8.??????’No penalty for wrong answers: Students will earn points for all questions they answer correctly.
Eleventh grade students will be tested in school’April 12’for the redesigned SAT and the optional essay, with’April 26’as the make-up date. On’April 13’students will also be tested for WorkKeys as part of the package deal for college assessment, with a make-up date set for April 27.?