The SAT has had a controversial history, but its claim to be best indicator of success in college is valid. That probably explains why it is so widely used. Nonetheless, its relevance has been increasingly questioned. Last year, the University of California announced that it would no longer use SAT scores in deciding which students to admit. Richard Atkinson, president of the U.C. system, criticized the test because it does too little to encourage classroom learning.
In three years, in time for this summer's rising ninth-graders, that will change. The College Board, the nonprofit corporation that administers the test, is adding a 20-to-30-minute written essay, as well as sections on grammar and higher math, such as advanced algebra, replacing long sections devoted to verbal and mathematical analogies.
These changes will make the test more accurately reflect what is taught in America's classrooms. The analogy sections are what drive students to SAT summer camps and other expensive SAT-prep programs — which favor affluent young people. The analogies' chief virtue — an important one to the College Board, which promotes the SAT's “objective”' scoring — is that they lend themselves to the test's multiple-choice format, though they have little place in most high school curricula, except in the context of preparing for the SAT.
The addition of a written segment will necessarily upset the College Board's multiple-choice apple cart, and the section will be a challenge to score fairly, but it is a positive development for high school students across America. That's because, to some degree, teachers teach to the test.
This change in the SAT will be quickly reflected in the way writing is taught in our high schools, and that's all to the good. Writing is an important skill, indeed, critical to the process of thinking. That is what college is mostly about, and greater emphasis on developing solid writing skills in high school will prepare students better for college. The overhaul will do little to quell the perennial chorus complaining that the SAT is biased to favor students from affluent backgrounds, but in making the test better reflect what is important in high school and college, it may succeed in diminishing such perceptions, as well.
