SAT 2005 quandary: natural smart vs classroom learning

THIS MONTH MARKS a pivotal divide in the SAT, arguably the most influential test for the nation's college-bound students, and also one of the most controversial. The elusive and once glittering perfect 1,600 score, comprised of 800 verbal and 800 mathematics points, has morphed into a 2,400-point "mother of all tests."

Proponents of the revised SAT format praise its grammar and writing additions and argue that the content-driven questions will benefit attentive and conscientious students who deserve high test scores commensurate with their grade point averages. Advocates of the former SAT format believe that rote memorization has replaced thinking and logic and that reliable indicators of intelligence have been all but stripped from the test.

Originally known in the 1930s as the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the current letters SAT now actually do not stand for anything: yet, when it comes to the difference between a student receiving a thick or thin envelope from a prospective college, those three letters and the scores behind them often stand for everything.

The changes in SAT 2005 (also known as SAT I), which include expanded and more advanced subject matter, have sent some students and their families into scholastic shell-shock. Writing skills and a working retention of more difficult academic material take time to acquire. This year's high school juniors have had a limited time frame in which to prepare for the new exam: the first test preparation guides for SAT 2005 were not available until the summer of 2004 while the College Board's own official SAT guide with practice tests for the revamped exam could not be purchased until October, 2004.

Advocates of SAT 2005 actually may see this year's comparatively small preparatory window as a good thing. In essence, it may level the academic playing field for this first group of students, many of whom will be taking the exam with only partial preparation. Most high school students taking the test will have made some attempt to develop the sophisticated vocabulary proffered by the SAT. Test prep courses cover the exam's revamped content while still offering old tricks to beat the new test--proven strategies such as process of elimination and solving backwards from among the answer choices. Due to the content changes on the exam, SAT preparation now includes such time-honored academic antiques as punctuation, grammar, and the rhetorical essay. The exam will favor students who are fluent with a graphing calculator; many new Algebra II-level problem types are easily solved with this brainy device.

The day of the unprepped SAT student essentially has gone the way of vinyl records, pay phones, and tie-dye T-shirts. Nor has SAT preparation remained the province of a privileged few whose children have been on private school waiting lists almost since they were in utero. Single as well as dual-working parents, public school principals, and the provosts of private academies understand the importance of SAT training. Parents and educators may argue against SAT preparation in theory, but they know that, for their students to be successful, SAT coaching is a fact of life.

Why was the SAT changed? The College Board, the administrators of the former SAT as well as SAT 2005, state their formal reason as a desire to "reinforce the importance of writing skills throughout a students' education and support the improvement of the academic preparation of all students, bolstering their chances for academic success in college." The real reason, however, was in the interest of business. Pressure from its biggest customer, University of California President Richard Atkinson, drove the College Board to change the aptitude test to one based upon retention of school curriculum and reflective of academic achievement.

In February, 2001, Atkinson, a testing expert and former Stanford University professor of cognitive psychology, proposed that the University of California drop the SAT in favor of an achievement-based admissions test. In a speech given before the American Council on Education, he outlined his concerns regarding standardized tests such as the SAT: "Developed properly and used responsibly, standardized tests can help students gauge their progress and help the general public assess the effectiveness of schools. The problem is not the use of standardized tests to assess knowledge in well-defined subject areas. The problem is tests that do not have a demonstrable relationship to the student's program of study--a problem that is amplified when the tests are assumed to measure innate ability." In response to Atkinson's proposal, the College Board quickly began changing their IQ-type exam to one that focuses more on academic achievement.

Although the SAT originally was designed as an aptitude test, it nonetheless has rewarded students who have had the advantage of enrolling in preparation courses and attending better schools which have academics geared towards standardized testing. Critics of the old SAT insist that it did not really measure aptitude as much as it gauged a family's financial ability to pay for coaching courses that teach students how to beat the test. Because the new SAT is more subject-based with its grammar, writing skills, and intermediate algebra additions, its scores are expected to reflect what students learn in school, not just at a test prep center. Thus, theorists proclaim that the new SAT will be less likely to favor the affluent and will help narrow score gaps across the socioeconomic spectrum.