The next step of the new SAT test will be RAP(e) singing. It will bring
more
genious students to the colleges.
March 12, 2005 - The Scholastic Aptitude Test is the most widely-taken
college entrance exam in America, and today, 300,000 high school students
sat down to take a new version of the test with an essay-writing
requirement
that had some - including the "GMA" Weekend anchors - sweating. The new
SAT
has three parts instead of two, with each section worth 800 points. That
means a perfect score is now 2400, instead of 1600. The new test takes
three
hours and 20 minutes, 50 minutes longer than the old one. The new test
also
has added more advanced math and has dropped verbal analogies. But the
biggest change in the new test is an additional writing section - a
25-minute essay asking a "philosophical" question to gauge how well
students
communicate and sup****t their views. The College Board, which administers
the SAT, has said it changed the test to better reflect what's taught in
high school and to gauge students' writing skills more effectively. The
College Board says it's not looking for perfect writing, just "first
draft"
writing that takes a position and sup****ts it. "We were hearing from
schools
across the country, from employers all across the country: Young people
are
getting out of college not able to write, entering college where writing
is
much more in demand," said Gaston Caperton, the president of the College
Board. High school student Cory Gordon is great at math, but he and his
parents were so nervous about today's writing ****tion of the test that
they
spent $3,600 on a tutor. "I'm a horrible essay writer. I always have been,
I
always will be," said Cory Gordon. Cory's mother, Susan, said of the test,
"Just when you think you have things figured out, they go and change it on
you, so it's difficult." But Does the Test Discriminate? Caperton said
that
the hope is in an effort to "teach to the test," high schools will start
placing more emphasis on writing skills. But some educators fear the
changes
place an even bigger burden on kids from poorer school districts who can't
afford expensive test preparation cl*****. Hoop Dreams is a non-profit in
Wa****ngton, D.C., that helps inner-city kids get into college. Educators
there say that oftentimes, the questions asked by the SAT don't reflect
the
experiences of many lower income and minority students. "If the topics of
the questions are about things that our kids haven't been
exposed to, they're just not going to be as comfortable writing about them
and really elaborating on them in the way that the test scorers might want
to see," said Susie Kay, an educator at Hoop Dreams. Hoop Dreams has
partnered with The Princeton Review, a test preparation organization, to
coach the kids at Hoop Dreams on their writitng, and that's made a
difference to students like Sckethia Smith, who will be the first in her
family to attend college. "I have confidence in myself and my writing, so
I
feel like I can do it,"said Smith. How Did 'GMA' Anchors Score? The "Good
Morning America" weekend anchors - Kate Snow, Bill Weir, Marysol Castro
and
Ron Claiborne - rolled up their sleeves and sat down to take a sample SAT
essay, administered and scored by experts from The Princeton Review. The
anchors had to take a position and sup****t it, based on the following
statement: "The greatest grief we have is grief we cause ourselves." The
essay, which counts for 30 percent of the new writing section, is scored
on
a scale of 2 to 12 points. Drew Deutsh, vice president of The Princeton
Review, scored the anchors' essays. And the verdict? Bill Weir scored 8
out
of 12 points; Kate Snow and Ron Claiborne tied for second with 10 points;
and Marysol Castro, a former high school teacher, received the high score
of
11, with an essay that compared Martha Stewart to Homer's Odysseus.
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