NEW YORK, Feb. 1 (US): Officials announced Tuesday that the SAT will move from paper and pencil to digital format, saying the shift will enhance its relevance as more colleges make standardized tests optional for admissions.
Test takers will be allowed to use their own laptops or tablets, but they must still sit for the test at a monitored test site or at school, rather than at home, the AP reports.
The format change is scheduled to be rolled out internationally next year and in the US in 2024. It would also shorten an hour from the current version, bringing the reading, writing, and math assessment from three hours to about two hours.
“The digital SAT will be easier to collect, easier to take, and more relevant,” said Priscilla Rodriguez, vice president of College Readiness Assessments at the College Board in New York City, which administers the SAT and related PSAT. “We are not simply putting the current SAT test on a digital platform. We are taking full advantage of what makes it possible to submit the assessment digitally.”
Scores from entrance tests such as the SAT and rival ACT, which were necessary for college applications, carry less weight today as colleges and universities pay more attention to the sum of student achievement and their activities throughout high school.
Amid criticism that exams favor wealthy, white, disadvantaged, minority and low-income applicants, an increasing number of schools in recent years have adopted test-optional policies, which allow students to decide whether to include scores with their applications.
The pandemic has accelerated the trend where testing sessions are canceled or inaccessible.
Nearly 80% of institutions awarding bachelor’s degrees do not require test scores from students applying for Fall 2022, according to a December count by the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, a watchdog group that opposes standardized tests. The group, known as FairTest, said at least 1,400 of them have extended the policy through at least the fall 2023 admissions cycle.
About 1.5 million members of the 2021 class have earned the SAT at least once, down from 2.2 million the previous year. A College Board survey found that many students want to take the SAT to maintain the option to submit scores and qualify for certain scholarships.
Rodriguez said the digital version will be delivered in a format more familiar to students who regularly learn and test online at school.
Also, student score reports will not only focus on connecting students to four-year colleges and scholarships, but will also provide information on college training options and the two-year workforce. This reflects an increase in the number of students taking the test during a designated SAT day at school, with some areas requiring students to take it. Rodriguez said about 60% of students who take the SAT do so in school.
“We want to offer students a broader range of information and resources about post-secondary options,” she said.
She said results will be available in days, not weeks. There have been cases over the years of paper-based test kits getting lost in the mail.
“I thought the digital version was a lot less stressful than the paper-and-pencil version,” said Natalia Kosio, 16, of Fairfax County, Virginia, who took part in a beta trial in November after taking a paper-based PSAT test for the first time.
She said digital formatting would solve some of the logistical issues she saw, such as students bringing mechanical pencils instead of the second class required, or advanced calculators not allowed. The digital version includes a basic calculator for the math section.
The College Board said that students who do not have a personal or school-issued device will be provided with a device for test day.