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Essential question

What does it mean to be “ready for college”?

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Thousands of students across the nation took a new version of the SAT on Saturday. The essay, added during the last set of changes in 2005, is now optional. Sentence completions are no more. Tricky vocabulary was removed from the test. And students will no longer be penalized for wrong answers. So why the changes? The new SAT is meant to better model the material students learn in school, according to the College Board, the nonprofit corporation that creates the exam. The College Board partnered with Khan Academy, an online educational service, to offer free online test-prep. The partnership was put into place to help equal the playing field, particularly for low-income students, given the high cost of test prep tutors. Test-prep experts say the new SAT looks more like its competitor, the ACT, which has gained more students in recent years and that students who can afford expensive test prep companies will still have an advantage.

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Key terms

standardized test – an exam that requires all test takers to answer the same questions in the same manner, meant allows college admissions’ offices to compare the performances of individual students SAT – (Scholastic Aptitude Test), a standardized test created by the College Board organization meant to show college admissions’ offices how prepared a high school student is for college ACT – (American College Testing), a standardized test created by the ACT, Inc., organization meant to show college admissions’ offices how prepared a high school student is for college

Warm up questions ( before watching the video)

1. What is the SAT?


2. What changes have been made to the new SAT?


3. Do you think the SAT a good way to measure how well prepared a student is for college?


4. Do most students in your school take the SAT or ACT?

Critical thinking questions ( after watching the video)

1. Do you think the changes to the SAT will help colleges get a better sense for how a student will perform in college? Explain.


2. Should colleges continue to use standardized tests like the SAT and ACT to measure how well prepared a student is for college?


3. Do you think the College Board should have made the essay optional on the new SAT? Why or why not?


4. Do you agree with some college admissions’ decision to go “test-optional”? Explain.