2 SAT Reasoning Test

The SAT Reasoning Test (formerly the SAT I: Reasoning Test and commonly referred to as the SAT I) covers two subjects: mathematicalMathematics is commonly defined as the study of patterns of structure, change, and space; more informally, one might say it is the study of "figures and numbers". In the formalist view, it is the investigation of axiomatically defined abstract structures and verbalThe English language is a West Germanic language, originating from England. It is the third most common "first" language (native speakers), with around 402 million people in 2002. English has lingua franca status in many parts of the world, due to the mil reasoning. Scores on each subject range from 200 to 800, with scores always being a multiple of 10. The test is presented in seven sections: three math, three verbal, and one ungraded experimental section which may be either math or verbal. Each of the seven sections is ordered first by question type, then by difficulty, with the exception of the critical reading question type, which is organized chronologically. For each correct answer, one raw point is added; for each incorrect answer on a question with 5 answer choices, a fourth of a point is deducted; for each incorrect answer on a question with 4 answer choices, a third of a point is deducted. Ten of the questions in the quantitative section are not multiple-choice. They instead require the test taker to input the actual result of their calculations in a four column grid. For these questions, no points are deducted for a wrong answer. The final score is derived from this raw score; the precise conversion chart varies from year to year due to minor variations in test difficulty.

Answer choices are often littered with distractors or Joe Bloggs (usually common mistakes or incomplete calculations). Many students rush through the first portion of easy questions and then get the difficult questions which follow wrong. The average score on the SAT I is in theory 1000 (500 on the verbal, 500 on the math), though the most recent national average is 508 for math, 518 for verbal. The most selective schools in the United States (for example, the Ivies) typically have SAT averages exceeding 1400. At 1510, Cal Tech currently has the highest average score for incoming freshmen.

In the early 1990s, the SAT consisted of six sections: two math sections (scored together on a 200-800 scale), two verbal sections (scored together on a 200-800 scale), the Test of Standard Written English (scored on a 20-60+ scale), and an equating section used to test new material and compare various exams that did not count at all. In the late 1990s, the exam was modified, removing antonym questions, and adding math questions that were not multiple choice.

In March 2005, the SAT Reasoning Test will be modified and lengthened, removing analogy questions and quantitative comparisons, and adding a writing section based largely on the current SAT Writing Test. In all, the new SAT will contain nine sections, and a total length of 3 hours 45 minutes; with the additional section, a "perfect" score on the new SAT will be 2400.

3 SAT Subject Tests

The SAT Subject tests (formerly the SAT II: Subject Tests and commonly referred to as the SAT II) are one-hour multiple-choice tests given in individual subjects. The exception is the Writing test, which is divided into a 20-minute essay question and a 40-minute multiple choice section.

The 22 Subject Tests are: Writing, Literature, U.S. History, World History, Math Level IC, Math Level IIC, Biology E/M (Ecological or Molecular), Chemistry, Physics, French Reading, French Reading with Listening, German Reading, German Reading with Listening, Spanish Reading, Spanish Reading with Listening, Modern Hebrew Reading, Italian Reading, Latin Reading with Listening, Japanese Reading with Listening, Korean Reading with Listening, Chinese Reading with Listening, and the English Language Proficiency Test (ELPT).

Each individual test is scored on a scale of 200 to 800, except for the ELPT, which is scored on a scale of 100 to 999. The ELPT will cease to be offered after January 2005. Colleges often require the Writing test, a math test, and a test of the student's choice. Engineering schools typically require a science test and prefer Math Level IIC.

4 Taking the test

The SAT is typically offerred seven times a year in the United States, on the first Saturday of October, November, December, January, March, May and June. In other countries, the SAT is offered on the same dates as in the United States except for the March test date, which is not offered.

Candidates may either take the SAT Reasoning Test or up to three SAT Subject Tests on any given test date, except the March test date, when only the SAT Reasoning Test is offered. Candidates may register to take the test online at the College Board's website, by mail or by phone. Typically candidates must register at least three weeks before the test date.

For candidates whose religious beliefs prevent them from taking the test on a Saturday, they may request to take the test on the Sunday after the test is usually held. Such requests must be made at the time of registration.

5 Raw Scores, scaled scores and percentiles

Except for the SAT Reasoning Test and some Subject Tests with subsections, the College Board does not provide candidates with their raw scores, but only their scaled score (on a scale of 200 to 800) and their percentile (i.e. the percentage of other candidates scoring lower than them).

The corresponding percentile of each scaled score varies from test to test - for example, in 2003, a scaled score of 800 in both section of the SAT Reasoning Test corresponded to a percentile of over 99, while a scaled score of 800 in the SAT Physics Test corresponded to the 94th percentile. The difference in corresponding percentiles reflects the number of students who take test. Generally speaking, the more popular test, the higher the percentile corresponding to a scaled score of 800.

6 History and name changes

The initials SAT have been used since the test was first introduced in 1901 as the Scholastic Achievement Test and meant to measure the level achieved by students seeking college admission. The test was used mainly by colleges and universities in the northeastern United States. In 1941, after considerable development, the name was changed to the Scholastic Aptitude Test, still the most popular name. The test became much more widely used in the 1950s and 1960s and once was almost universal.

The success of SAT coaching schools, such as Kaplan and the Princeton Review, forced the College Board to change the name again. In 1990, the name was changed to Scholastic Assessment Test, since a test that can be coached clearly did not measure inherent "scholastic aptitude" but only what the test subject had learned in school. This was a major theoretical retreat by the Educational Testing Service, which had previously maintained that the test measured inherent aptitude and was free of bias.

In 1994, however, the redundancy of the term assessment test was recognized and the name was changed to the neutral, and non-descriptive, SAT. At the time, the College Board announced, "Please note that SAT is not an initialism. It does not stand for anything."

The average score was initially designed to be 500 points on each section. However, as the test grew more popular and students from less rigorous schools began taking the test, the average dropped, bottoming out at about 450 for each section. Various attempts at balancing out this decline led to complex statistical anomalies. For example, in certain years it was impossible to get a score of 780 or 790 on a section; one could only get a 770 or below or an 800. To combat this trend, in 1995 the SAT was "recalibrated" (officially, the term is "recentered"), and the average score became again closer to 500. All modern scores are officially reported with an "R" (e.g. 1260R) to reflect this change.

7 Criticisms

The SAT Reasoning Test has long been the subject of criticism. Critics claim that it is biased towards males and whites (if true, this is somewhat ironic, as one of the original touted advantages of the SAT was that it would give immigrant children an equal chance with traditional elites). Opponents to the SAT propose different solutions, including the offering of different SAT tests targeted at different demographic groups. Furthermore, many of the multiple-choice questions and word analogies have been found to be ambiguous, and some math scores have had to be changed because of errors in scoring them.

One out of four colleges have made the SAT Reasoning Test optional and have begun to pay more attention to other measures of student ability. The University of California system has started to weigh SAT IIs more heavily instead. Other colleges have encouraged the use of the alternate ACT instead. Overall SAT averages for admission are still the subject of self-promotion by colleges and universities, however.

Unlike the SAT Reasoning Test, the SAT Subject Tests have received less controversy, partly because they are more content oriented.

In 2001, Richard C. Atkinson , president of the University of California, urged dropping the SAT Reasoning Test as a college admissions requirement, in a speech to the American Council of Education . Here are some selections from his talk:

"Anyone involved in education should be concerned about how overemphasis on the SAT is distorting educational priorities and practices, how the test is perceived by many as unfair, and how it can have a devastating impact on the self-esteem and aspirations of young students. There is widespread agreement that overemphasis on the SAT harms American education."

and

"And in 1996, [the College Board] dropped the name altogether and said that the "SAT" was the "SAT" and that the initials no longer stood for anything. Rather than resolving the problem, this rhetorical sleight-of-hand served to underscore the mystery of what the SAT is supposed to measure. ... [People] have no way of knowing what the SAT measures."

In response, the college board has announced that in 2005, a new version of the SAT Reasoning Test will become effective, which will include a writing section, the abolition of analogies, and the addition of shorter reading sections. In addition, the math section will be expanded to cover three years of high school math. Instead of just covering concepts from Geometry and Algebra I, the new SAT math section will contain concepts from Geometry, Algebra I and Algebra II. The new test will be scored out of 2400.

8 See also

• PSAT, a practice SAT taken by many sophomores and juniors.
• List of admissions tests
• List of people by reported SAT score
• SAT's correlation to IQ

9 External links

• College Board: Tests
• Vocabulary tests for the SAT
• Atkinson expands on his remarks

Standardized tests

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