Comments from the College Board on SAT Essay Length and Scores

05/09/05

New York, NY -- In writing, as we are all aware, quantity does not necessarily mean quality. In fact, the ability to communicate a complex idea clearly in as few words as possible is, for some, the essence of good writing. Given that, some have wondered why the SAT essay training and practice test samples typically show high correlations between length and score.

There is a simple explanation for this correlation. The College Board's goal in selecting samples for initial training, and for practice tests, is to find essays at each score point that demonstrate all the criteria of that score point. And one important criterion is development. According to our published Scoring Guide, a "typical" 6 essay "effectively and insightfully develops a point of view on the issue... using clearly appropriate examples, reasons, and other evidence to support its position." These essays tend to be robustly developed, and are among the longest essays in our sample sets. But a "typical" 6 essay also "exhibits skillful use of language," "demonstrates meaningful variety in sentence structure," and "is free of most errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics." Training 6s are usually longer than training essays at other score points, but they are also more skillfully written across the entire range of criteria than essays at other score points.

Compare a training 6 to a training 3. An essay selected as a sample 3 will be "limited in its organization or focus, or may demonstrate some lapses in coherence or progression of ideas"; it will have problems in development, which, in practice, almost always means that it is shorter. But sample 3s also "sometimes use weak vocabulary or inappropriate word choice," "lack variety or demonstrate problems in sentence structure," or "contain an accumulation of errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics." Training 3s are often shorter than training 4s, 5s, and 6s, but they are also problematic in other ways that all readers should recognize.

The College Board selects these typical essays for training because we want teachers and students to be clear about the level of quality that we associate with each score point. In live scoring, of course, we see typical and atypical essays; some shorter essays will still "insightfully and effectively develop a point of view on an issue," while some longer essays will "sometimes use weak vocabulary or inappropriate word choice." But that is the reason the College Board only employs experienced classroom teachers (with a minimum of three years' experience) as scorers. We trust that teachers who have years of experience reading student writing will be able, upon grasping the clear distinctions between typical essays, to perform the trickier task of scoring the atypical essays. Results from the March administration suggest that our confidence is justified. As we continue to develop our training and test-preparation materials, we plan to provide a more diverse set of samples in order to further refine teachers' and students' understanding of the scoring criteria.

College Board Offers Practical Advice and Test-Taking Tips for Students Taking the New SAT®

03/09/05

This Saturday, March 12, hundreds of thousands of high school students across the country will take the new SAT test. The new SAT features enhanced third-year mathematics, additional critical reading passages in place of analogies, and a new writing section with a student-written essay and multiple-choice questions.

To help students taking the exam, the College Board offers these suggestions:

Answer easy questions first. The easier questions are at the beginning of the section and the harder questions are at the end. The only exceptions to this rule are the critical reading questions, which may be ordered according to the logic of the passage.

Guess smart. If you can rule out one or more answer choices, your chances of guessing the right answer improve.

Don't panic. You do not have to answer every question correctly to get a good score.

Use your test book for scratch work. Cross off choices you know are wrong; mark questions you have omitted to go back and answer if time permits.

Keep track of time. If you finish a section early, use the extra time to go back and check your answers.

Remember that the essay is essentially a first draft. Scorers are trained to view your work "holistically." They will be looking for your ability to develop a point of view and support your argument with specific examples that draw on your coursework and readings. Remember to write legibly, but also know that simple grammatical and spelling errors will be overlooked.

Additionally, the College Board offers these tips to make the test-taking experience go smoothly:

Prepare in advance. A few days before the test, set aside all the materials that you will need to bring to the test. Make sure to bring at least two number two pencils, a good eraser, your admissions ticket, acceptable photo identification, and a scientific or graphing calculator.

Don't cram. Try to avoid studying the night before the SAT. It's better to get a good night's sleep.

Eat a healthy breakfast. A nutritious breakfast will keep you energized.

Leave early and plan your transportation in advance. Don't wait until the last minute to secure directions to the test center. If you are driving with a friend, be sure to coordinate pickup times to ensure that you arrive in time for the test.

The new SAT will be administered on March 12, 2005 and again on May 7 and June 4, 2005.

The College Board is a not-for-profit membership association whose mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, the association is composed of more than 4,700 schools, colleges, universities, and other educational organizations. Each year, the College Board serves over three and a half million students and their parents, 23,000 high schools, and 3,500 colleges through major programs and services in college admissions, guidance, assessment, financial aid, enrollment, and teaching and learning. Among its best-known programs are the SAT, the PSAT/NMSQT®, and the Advanced Placement Program® (AP®). The College Board is committed to the principles of excellence and equity, and that commitment is embodied in all of its programs, services, activities, and concerns.

Contact:

Karen Pasternack

Porter Novelli

(212) 601-8049

kpasternack@porternovelli.com

More Than 9,000 Educators Nationwide Answer the College Board's Call to Help Score Essays for the New SAT®

12/14/04

NEW YORK—The College Board today announced that more than 9,000 teachers and professors from throughout the United States have submitted applications to join a team of highly qualified and well-trained readers to score essays for the new SAT®. In recruiting the readers, the College Board has implemented a rigorous selection process and has also created a comprehensive training program to ensure that readers score the essays with consistency and fairness.

"We believe the positive response from the education community reflects broad support for improving writing in high school and college—and we are gratified by the response from teachers who have applied to help promote the importance of strong writing skills," said Photo Anagnostopoulos, senior vice president for the College Board, which sponsors the SAT. "The College Board is assembling a highly qualified, rigorously trained and supervised team of high school teachers and college faculty members to score the student essays."

The new SAT, which will be given for the first time in March 2005, will measure a student's critical-thinking skills in three areas—reading, writing, and math. It will feature an essay component in which students will have 25 minutes to articulate and develop a point of view on a specific topic.

The new writing section, and the essay in particular, will allow students to demonstrate their writing skills to colleges. "We know that writing skills are important for academic and career success, and we hope that the addition of writing to the SAT will generate support for educators who emphasize writing," said Anagnostopoulos.

"Research shows that students who can successfully write a short, timed essay are likely to succeed in college writing courses," said Brian Bremen, an English professor at the University of Texas at Austin, who is also a member of the writing test development committee responsible for making recommendations to the College Board about the new SAT. "Students can rest assured that their essays will be scored in a consistent and fair manner by readers who have undergone comprehensive and rigorous training."

Rigorous Selection Process

To qualify as new SAT essay readers for the College Board, applicants must hold a bachelor's degree or higher and currently teach, or have taught, a high school or college-level course that requires a substantial amount of writing. Retired educators also are encouraged to apply.

Close to 80 percent of the more than 9,000 applicants hold a master's or doctorate degree. Almost 44 percent have more than 10 years of teaching experience, and more than 50 percent are college faculty members.

The SAT is the only college admissions test with a prospective applicant pool of readers with this level of teaching experience.

Comprehensive Training

Readers selected to score essays will participate in a mandatory training course. Readers will be trained to assess students' ability to think critically and to write effectively under time constraints similar to those they will encounter on essay examinations and in class assignments in college courses. Readers will be trained in the principles of holistic scoring to read supportively, rewarding what is done well, rather than taking points off for errors in grammar and spelling. The essay will be scored with the understanding that it is a first draft.

The College Board has contracted with Pearson Educational Measurement of Iowa City, to train the readers and supervise the scoring. Pearson is a leader in performance assessment scoring.

Consistent Scoring

The scoring process will include thorough controls and supervision to ensure consistency and fairness. Two scorers will review each essay independently and assign it a score within a range of 1 to 6, for a total combined score of 2 to 12. An experienced third reader will be called upon if scores differ by more than one point. A supervisor will monitor the original scoring in real time to further ensure accuracy.

The College Board has been measuring writing skills for the past 50 years. In 2003 alone, essays were scored for the more than 300,000 students who took the SAT Subject Test™ in Writing.

A Difference in Prompts

Focusing on the critical-thinking skills needed in college, the essay assignments or "prompts" for the new SAT will be markedly different from those used in other standardized exams.

"Our prompts are designed to help admissions directors assess a candidate's preparedness for college-level writing," Anagnostopoulos said.

"The new prompts are also designed to be easily accessible to the general test-taking population, including students for whom English is a second language."

To become acquainted with the new SAT, students can take an official new SAT practice test and receive an individualized score and skills report free of charge at the SAT Preparation Center™.

Learn more about the new SAT essay and how to become an essay reader at the new SAT website.

For more information, please contact the Public Affairs office at 212 713-8052.

Writing Their Way In

The College Application Essay Helps Students Look Good on Paper

10/29/04

"If you could balance on a tightrope, over what landscape would you walk? (No net.)" (University of Chicago)

"Recall an occasion when you took a risk that you now know was the right thing to do." (University of Pennsylvania)

"Who are you?" (Eugene Lang College)

When it comes time to answer these questions, who should students ask for help? Their English teacher? Their college counselor? Their best friend?

None of the above, says Sarah Myers McGinty in the newly revised edition of her book, The College Application Essay, published by the College Board. All of the above people can (and often do) help in little ways, but the best helpers are a student's parents.

More colleges than ever require students to submit an essay with their applications, yet many report a declining trend in the quality and appeal of applicant writing. The College Application Essay teaches students how to write vivid, distinctive essays to support their bids for competitive colleges.

New in this edition is a chapter for parents, which explains how they can aid the writing process—without interfering in it. Today's parents often think they will only add pressure if they bring up the essay at the dinner table. But research that McGinty recently conducted for the National Association for College Admission Counseling shows that students get the most and most useful, help on the essay from their parents.

"The crux of any application question is 'tell us about yourself,'" says McGinty. "Colleges want to meet the person who's behind all the grades, test scores, and achievement awards. Parents, regardless of their own educational experiences, can help their children think about who they really are, about what colleges should know about them."

The College Application Essay helps students find their voice and be "heard" on paper with lessons on the thought processes that lead to good writing. "There are a handful of simple ways for students to write a vivid and individual essay," says McGinty. "One thing I stress is that they shouldn't think of the application essay as a crushing, unfamiliar assignment—they've had a lot of writing practice before senior year."

Beyond that advice, the book also includes dozens of current essay questions and topics, multiple-response strategies, and insight from admissions directors and guidance professionals on how applicants' essays are evaluated.

The book is 160 pages, softcover, and available in bookstores everywhere at a suggested retail price of $15.95 ($23.95 in Canada). College Board books are distributed by Henry Holt and Company, New York.

About the Author

Sarah Myers McGinty has spent her career working in college admissions and teaching writing at both the secondary and college levels. She has researched and published works on the college essay, the role of student writing in self-advocacy, and verbal communication. Her articles have appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, English Journal, and other national publications. She is currently an adviser in the teacher education program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Members of the media who would like to request a review copy or to speak with Sarah Myers McGinty can contact Jennifer Topiel at 212 713-8052 or via email at jtopiel@collegeboard.org.

The College Board Launches an Official New SAT® Practice Test Online

Students Can Familiarize Themselves with the Revised Test at No Cost

09/22/04

NEW YORK -- Students can now test themselves online in preparation for the new SAT® that will debut next March. The College Board, which owns the SAT, has placed an official practice exam on its online new SAT Preparation Center™ Web site, www.collegeboard.com/srp.

The official practice test is one piece of the College Board's SAT Readiness Program™. It is designed to reinforce a student's test-taking skills and to allow students to become more comfortable with the new version of the nation's most popular college entrance exam. By taking the official practice test, students can gain a good idea of what to expect on the actual exam. The new SAT will include three sections: math, critical reading, and a new writing section with an essay.

Everything a student needs to take and score the practice test is online, including an answer sheet and instructions on how to score the test. Students should set aside sufficient time so that they can take the test in a single sitting, and they should allow themselves the specified time for each section.

They should also sit at a table or desk that has been cleared of all papers and books, and should have a calculator on hand to use for the math section. Taking the official practice test will be most helpful if students take it under conditions as close as possible to those of the actual test.

This official practice test is just one of the numerous resources the College Board is providing to students through the SAT Readiness Program to help get them ready for upcoming changes to the SAT.

Beginning on October 18, they will be able to go to collegeboard.com, enter their answers to the official practice test, and receive a free online score report and skills report. These reports will help students better identify areas for development and where to focus their study. In addition, students will also be able to access answer explanations for all questions on the free official practice test.

These are just some of the many exam readiness materials from the College Board. A paper version of the official practice test will be distributed to all high schools in the SAT Preparation Booklet™. Students can get this free booklet from their school counselor's office beginning in winter 2004-05.

To take the official online practice test for yourself, and to access additional practice questions, a math review, examples of essays at each score point (1-6), and other new SAT resources, go to the SAT Preparation Center.

Learn more about the SAT Readiness Program.

About the College Board

The College Board: Connecting Students to College Success

The College Board is a not-for-profit membership association whose mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, the association is composed of more than 4,500 schools, colleges, universities, and other educational organizations. Each year, the College Board serves over three million students and their parents, 23,000 high schools, and 3,500 colleges through major programs and services in college admissions, guidance, assessment, financial aid, enrollment, and teaching and learning. Among its best-known programs are the SAT®, the PSAT/NMSQT®, and the Advanced Placement Program® (AP®). The College Board is committed to the principles of excellence and equity, and that commitment is embodied in all of its programs, services, activities, and concerns.

For more information, contact Kristin Carnahan at 212 713-8052.

SAT® Scores Hold Steady for College-Bound Seniors

Favorable gains by Mexican American, Other Hispanic, and American Indian Students

Record Number of SAT Takers for 14th Straight Year

08/31/04

College Bound Seniors

Washington, D.C. -- The College Board announced today that average SAT® verbal scores this year rose 1 point to 508, building on last years 3-point verbal score gain. College Board President Gaston Caperton said that following years of flat verbal scores, he hopes the recent score gains are the beginning of an upward trend.

Average math scores fell 1 point from last year to 518, though the overall math trend remained positive. Average math scores are up 14 points compared to 10 years ago.

Scores among female SAT takers rose 1 point on the verbal section, to 504 this year, while their math scores dropped 2 points to 501. Scores for male SAT takers remained unchanged at 512 for verbal and 537 for math.

The number of SAT takers among the high school class of 2004 rose to an all-time high of 1,419,007. This marks the fourteenth year in a row that the total number of exam-takers has risen.

Promising Gains Among Mexican American, Other Hispanic, and American Indian Students

Scores rose for the two fastest-growing groups of SAT takers: Mexican American and Other Hispanic* students. Compared to last year, verbal scores for Mexican American students rose 3 points and their math scores were up 1 point, while Other Hispanic students gained 4 points on verbal and 1 point on math.

Scores also increased for American Indians. Their verbal scores rose 3 points and their math scores jumped 6 points from last year.

"Among the most promising findings this year are the SAT math and verbal score gains among Mexican American, Other Hispanic, and American Indian students," Caperton said. "During this election year, both presidential candidates have made it clear that setting high academic standards and fostering educational success for all students are crucial to our nation. Improved performance on the SAT is one indication that these students are focusing on the skills they need to succeed in college. And the majority of Mexican American and Other Hispanic SAT takers are the first in their families to go to college."

Sixty-nine percent of Mexican American, 55 percent of Other Hispanic, and 46 percent of American Indian SAT takers are first-generation college students. In addition, English was not the first language learned by many Mexican American and Other Hispanic SAT takers.

Texas and California were two of the states with increased SAT participation rates and test scores among Mexican American and Other Hispanic students.

Larry R. Faulkner, president of the University of Texas at Austin, said, "This year's SAT report shows both a sharp increase in test-takers and a significant rise in the average SAT scores among Hispanic students from Texas. This exciting news points to heightened educational aspirations in the Hispanic community and better performance in the public schools serving them. In keeping with these results, the 2004 freshman class at UT has the best overall academic qualifications in the University's history and also includes the largest percentage of Hispanic students ever."

Steven B. Sample, president of the University of Southern California, said, "This recent increase in Latino student SAT scores is a positive sign that colleges and universities may see an increase in the number of students from Latino backgrounds who pursue postsecondary education. USC, along with the College Board and many other organizations, is engaged in efforts to encourage the aspirations of Latino students. At USC we do this through a number of programs that reach out to Latino K-12 students and their families both in neighborhoods around our two campuses and across the nation."

A Broader 10-Year View

A broader 10-year view of SAT scores reveals verbal and math score increases among many groups of SAT takers. The largest 10-year verbal score gains were among Asian American students, whose scores were up 18 points, and Puerto Ricans, whose scores rose 13 points. The largest 10-year math score advances were among Asian Americans (up 24 points) and American Indians (up 18 points).

Despite these promising trends, the achievement gap between white students and students from other racial and ethnic groups persists. The gap in course-taking patterns persists as well. For example, 13 percent of African American SAT takers and 18 percent of both Mexican American and Other Hispanic SAT takers took calculus during high school compared to 27 percent of white and 43 percent of Asian American students.

New SAT Will Debut in March 2005

This year's high school juniors, students in the class of 2006, will begin to take a new SAT in March 2005. The new test will include a writing section with a student-written essay, higher-level math, and more reading passages.

"The new SAT will continue to assess how students apply what they have learned in school," said Caperton. "With the addition of the writing section, it will be even more valuable in assessing the academic skills students need to succeed in college and in today's workforce."

A broad cross section of the nation's leading colleges has established that scores from a standardized writing test will be a requirement for admissions. Nearly 60 percent of public flagship colleges have committed to requiring writing. In addition, about 64 percent of colleges in the major athletic conferences and almost all Big Ten, PAC-10, and Atlantic Coast Athletic Conferences will require writing. Average scores for the first class of students to take the new SAT will be reported in August 2006.

For more information on the new SAT, visit New SAT Press Area.

A Snapshot of SAT Takers

758,737 (53 percent) of SAT takers are female and 660,270 (47 percent) are male.

Thirty-seven percent of SAT takers in the class of 2004 were minorities. The number of Mexican American SAT takers increased by 63 percent between 1994 and 2004. SAT takers in the Other Hispanic category increased by 64 percent during the same period.

Thirty-eight percent of SAT takers are first-generation college students, including 69 percent of Mexican American students and 55 percent of Other Hispanic students.

The amount and quality of academic preparation for college varies by racial/ethnic group, parental education, and family income. Precalculus, for example, was taken by:

60 percent of Asian American students versus 35 percent of Puerto Ricans and 31 percent of African Americans;

53 percent of students whose parents graduated from college versus 36 percent of those whose parents did not have high school diplomas; and

51 percent of students with family incomes of $50,000 and above versus 39 percent of those with lower incomes.

SAT Growth

The SAT Program continues to grow. For example, in Florida alone, the number of SAT takers increased by nearly 4,000, or 5 percent, between 2003 and 2004.

Six states saw the percent of SAT takers grow 5 percent or more between 2003 and 2004:

Arizona

Florida

Idaho

Nevada

New Mexico

North Dakota

Seven states saw growth of 1,000 SAT takers or more between 2003 and 2004:

Florida

Georgia

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

Pennsylvania

Texas

* Those identifying themselves as Latin American, South American, Central American, or Other Hispanic or Latino.

The information presented in this press release is based on the number of students who responded to each corresponding question on the SAT Questionnaire, an optional questionnaire that most students complete when they register for the SAT. The number of students responding and the number not responding to each question are reported in the College-Bound Seniors national report, available at www.collegeboard.com/cbsrs04.

New SAT® for the Press

Fact Sheet

Introduction Schedule

Fall 2004	PSAT/NMSQT®*
March 2005	First administration of the new SAT

* Reflected changes to the SAT, excluding the student-written essay.

Changes to the SAT Writing

A new writing section has been added to the test. Students are asked to write an essay that requires them to take a position on an issue and use reasoning and examples to support their position.

The essay is similar to the type of writing required on in-class college essay exams.

Multiple-choice questions measure a student's ability to identify sentence errors, improve sentences, and improve paragraphs.

Math

The new math section includes topics from third-year college-preparatory math, such as exponential growth, absolute value, functional notation, and negative and fractional exponents.

Quantitative comparisons have been eliminated.

Critical Reading

The critical reading section, previously known as the verbal section, includes short and long reading passages.

Analogies have been eliminated, but sentence-completion questions remain.

Total Testing Time: 3 hours and 45 minutes, including an unscored 25-minute variable section (which helps in the development of future test questions).

	Previous SAT	New SAT
Math
Time	75 minutes Two 30-minute sections; one 15-minute section.	70 minutes Two 25-minute sections; one 20-minute section.
Content	Multiple-Choice Items, Student-Produced Responses, Quantitative Comparisons Measuring: Number and Operations, Algebra I and Functions Geometry; Statistics, Probability, and Data Analysis.	Multiple-Choice Items, Student-Produced Responses Measuring: Number and Operations, Algebra I, II, and Functions Geometry; Statistics, Probability, and Data Analysis
Score	M 200-800	M 200-800

	Previous SAT	New SAT
Critical Reading
Time	75 minutes Two 30-minute sections; one 15-minute section	70 minutes Two 25-minute sections; one 20-minute section.
Content	Sentence Completions, Passage-Based Reading, Analogies Measuring: Extended Reasoning, Literal Comprehension, Vocabulary in Context	Sentence Completions, Passage-Based Reading Measuring: Extended Reasoning, Literal Comprehension, Vocabulary in Context
Score	V 200-800	CR 200-800

	Previous SAT	New SAT
Writing
Time	No test	60 minutes 35-minute multiple choice; 25-minute essay
Content	No test	Multiple-Choice: Identifying Errors, Improving Sentences and Paragraphs Student-Written Essay: Effectively Communicate a Viewpoint, Defining and Supporting a Position
Score		W 200-800 Multiple-Choice Subscore: 20-80 Essay Subscore: 2-12

New SAT® for Press

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did the test change?

Is the SAT still a reasoning test?

How can you compare scores from the previous SAT to scores from the new SAT?

Is this the first time the test has changed?

Why is the writing section required and not optional?

What is the best way to prepare for the new SAT?

Do students who can afford to pay for expensive SAT coaching gain a significant advantage over students who can't?

Is the new SAT more or less coachable than the previous SAT?

How big a role do SAT scores play in college admissions?

What about students in the class of 2006 who took the "old" SAT? Should they take the new SAT, too?

Is the new test harder?

Have the SAT Subject Tests™ changed as well?

Is it true that the changes were made to accommodate the University of California?

Is the SAT fair?

How can students be expected to produce a polished essay in 25 minutes?

How are the essays scored?

Who scores the essays?

What constitutes a good essay?

Do spelling, grammar, and handwriting affect the score?

Why did the math content change?

Why were analogies dropped?

What is the College Board?

What is the relationship between the College Board and ETS?

What kinds of research data from the College Board are available to the press?

Q: Why did the College Board change the test?

The College Board changed the SAT to better reflect what students are learning in high school, and to include writing, which is an important skill for success in college and beyond.

Is the SAT still a reasoning test?

Yes. The new SAT still measures the kind of reasoning skills needed for college by assessing how students apply what they have learned in school. Colleges use the SAT as a common yardstick that complements a student's high school record in a consistent way.

Q: How can you compare scores from the previous SAT to scores from the new SAT?

The math and critical reading test scores can be compared to the previous math and verbal scores, respectively. This is something colleges need for consistency in admissions requirements. However, the SAT writing section is completely new.

In April 2004, the College Board and ETS presented important research findings on the new SAT to the National Council on Measurement in Education. Field trial research conclusively demonstrated that scores on the new critical reading section and the new math section are comparable, respectively, to scores on the previous verbal section and previous math section.

Q: Is this the first time the test has changed?

No. Since the SAT was first introduced in 1926, it has evolved to remain aligned with classroom practices. The most recent content changes occurred in 1994, when antonym questions were removed and longer reading passages were added. Open-ended math questions were also added, and calculators were allowed.

Q: Why is the writing section required and not optional?

The College Board believes that the addition of writing encourages and supports the teaching of writing at every grade level. Colleges and universities have for some time expressed concern about the writing skills of high school graduates. Similar concerns have been voiced in the secondary education community and among business leaders. A 2003 report from the National Commission on Writing for America's Families, Schools, and Colleges—a blue-ribbon group made up of university leaders, public school superintendents, and teachers, assisted by an advisory panel of writing experts—revealed that the amount of time and money devoted to student writing must be drastically increased in every curriculum and at all grade levels. (For information on the Commission, visit www.writingcommission.org.)

The College Board, and its many member advisers, strongly believe that making the writing section required and not optional sends a strong message about the importance of writing for success in college and the workplace.

Q: What is the best way to prepare for the new SAT?

The short-term answer is that students should familiarize themselves with the SAT by taking practice tests. Students who take the PSAT/NMSQT® will receive Score Report Plus, which provides personalized feedback on their academic skills and identifies strengths and possible weak areas. The College Board also offers free and low-cost test-preparation materials for students and teachers.

The long-term answer is that the best preparation for the SAT, and for college, is to take demanding courses within a strong curriculum. Students should write as often as possible and read challenging books and articles on a variety of subjects.

Q: Do students who can afford to pay for expensive SAT coaching gain a significant advantage over students who can't?

It is wise to be skeptical about the claims made by high-priced coaches and coaching companies. Although commercial coaching courses—those that focus on drills, tricks, and memorization techniques—often advertise huge score gains, students should know that recent research demonstrates that coached students are only slightly more likely to have large score gains than uncoached students. The research also demonstrates that about one-third of coached students are likely to have no score change at all or to have a decrease in scores.

However, the College Board strongly recommends that students familiarize themselves with the SAT—including the types of questions on the test and the directions for each type of question. The College Board makes free practice tests available to students at collegeboard.com and through publications sent to high schools. Taking practice tests is very helpful and is one of the best ways to prepare for the SAT.

Q. Is the new SAT more or less coachable than the previous SAT?

It's in the interest of high-priced coaches and coaching companies to claim that they can help students achieve big score gains on both the current and the new SAT, and several of them are making those claims. But, as we've pointed out, research shows that coached students are only slightly more likely to have large score gains than uncoached students. It also shows that about one-third of coached students are likely to have no score change at all or have a decrease in scores. This is likely to be as true for the new SAT as it was for the previous one.

Some educators even speculate that without analogies, the new SAT is less coachable than the current one, because the analogy format encourages drilling on vocabulary words.

There are also coaching companies that encourage students to memorize an essay before entering the test room and adapt it to the essay prompt on the exam. Such advice is dangerous. Essays not written on the essay topic will receive a score of zero.

Q: How big a role do SAT scores play in college admissions?

Colleges and universities use the SAT as only one of many factors in admissions decisions. The most important factor is high school grades earned in demanding courses. The use of high school grade point average with SAT scores provides the best information regarding a student's likelihood to succeed in college.

Q: What about students in the class of 2006 who took the "old" SAT? Should they take the new SAT, too?

Members of the class of 2006 who chose to take the old test should be sure to check the requirements at each school to which they plan to apply. If a member of the class of 2006 were to submit scores from the previous SAT, many college and universities would accept those scores, but there are other colleges that would not.

Q: Is the new test harder?

It is different, not harder. A few math questions on the new SAT cover some topics from Algebra II. However, the test still measures reasoning ability and problem-solving skills gained through activities and learning in and outside of school. The critical reading section may seem easier to students who do not like analogies. With the addition of the writing section, students have a new opportunity to demonstrate how well they have learned to express and organize their thoughts.

Q: Have the SAT Subject Tests changed as well?

The SAT Subject Test in Writing was discontinued when the new SAT was introduced. None of the other Subject Tests have changed. The SAT Subject Test in Math Level 1 will continue to be available, and the content will not change.

Q: Is it true that the changes were made to accommodate the University of California?

While the College Board certainly paid attention to the University of California's suggestions that analogies be eliminated and writing be added—as a membership organization we consider the feedback of all of our members—many other factors contributed to the decision to change the test. In fact, seeds of the current revisions were planted in 1990 by a blue-ribbon commission and its culminating report called "Beyond Prediction," which led to the revisions in 1994. A recommendation considered, but not adopted, was the addition of the kind of writing section we introduced in March 2005. Among the reasons a writing section was not adopted at the time was the lack of technological capability to transmit millions of student essays to professional readers for scoring—something that is feasible today.

Q: Is the SAT fair?

One of the College Board's highest priorities is to ensure that the SAT is fair for all students. It is the most researched test in the world. It takes more than two years to develop a form of the SAT. Each SAT question goes through a series of at least four content reviews (and sometimes several more) and a separate "sensitivity" review to be sure it is fair in content and tone for all students. In addition, a statistical review called differential item functioning, or "DIF," is used to compare how subgroups of students perform on each question. If students from different groups who have approximately equal knowledge and skill perform in substantially different ways on a test question, it is discarded or revised and reviewed again.

Q: How can students be expected to produce a polished essay in 25 minutes?

The College Board recognizes that an essay written in a short amount of time will not be polished. It is just a first draft and will be scored as such. The essay is similar to the on-demand writing required for in-class college exams.

Q: How are the essays scored?

Essays are scored in a manner that is fair and consistent, using a holistic approach. In holistic scoring, a piece of writing is considered as a total work, the whole of which is greater than the sum of its parts. The essay is scored by qualified readers, who take into account such aspects as complexity of thought, substantiality of development, and facility with language.

Each essay is scored separately by two readers who won't know the other's score. Each reader gives the essay a score from 1 to 6 (6 is the highest score), based on the overall quality of the essay and its demonstration of writing competence. If the two readers' scores differ by more than one point, a scoring leader will resolve the difference. The essay score equals one-third of the entire score for the writing section.

Q: Who scores the essays?

The essays are scored by trained high school and college teachers who have at least three years of classroom experience.

Q: What constitutes a good essay?

The short essay is designed to measure a student's ability to think critically and to develop ideas in a thoughtful, cogent, and coherent essay.

The essay prompt (either a pair of quotations or a short paragraph adapted from some authentic text) gives students the opportunity to draw on a broad range of experiences, learning, and ideas to support their points of view on the issue in question. Students may write about literature, the arts, sports, politics, technology and science, history, current events, or personal observations, among other topics. Students may accept or reject the idea presented in the prompt to whatever extent they see fit and draw on the rhetorical approach that best suits their writing style. For instance, some students may use an expository or argumentative style; others may structure essays through comparison or contrast, or other techniques.

Q: Do spelling, grammar, and handwriting affect the score?

Spelling errors do not affect a student's score unless they are so pervasive that they get in the way of the reader understanding the essay. Even with some errors in punctuation and grammar, a student can get a top score on the essay. Similarly, handwriting will not be evaluated, but essay readers must be able to decipher a student's handwriting. Accommodations will be made for students who have a documented disability that requires the use of a computer and meets College Board guidelines for testing accommodations.

Q: Why did the math content change?

The content was changed to reflect current classroom practices and admissions standards. Seventy percent of high school students finish Algebra II (or its equivalent) by the end of their junior year. Ninety-seven percent of college-bound students complete three years of math, with 69 percent completing four or more years. Most four-year colleges require three years of math for admission.

Q: Why were analogies dropped?

Analogy questions have been removed because they are less connected to the current high school curriculum. Additionally, some educators have expressed concern that the analogy format encouraged rote memorization of vocabulary words. The new SAT still assesses analogical reasoning in the short and long reading passages.

Q: What is the College Board?

The College Board is a not-for-profit association composed of more than 4,700 schools, colleges, universities, and other educational organizations. Each year, the College Board serves over three million students and their parents, 23,000 high schools, and 3,500 colleges through major programs and services in college admissions, guidance, assessment, financial aid, enrollment, and teaching and learning. Among its best-known programs are the SAT, the PSAT/NMSQT®, and the Advanced Placement Program® (AP®).

The College Board's mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, the Board is committed to excellence and equity in education.

Q: What is the relationship between the College Board and ETS?

The College Board was responsible for the development of the first "College Boards," a series of essays in nine subjects that composed the entrance exams used by 12 selective colleges in the northeast. These institutions wanted to compare students from across the country fairly and equitably regardless of where they went to high school. The College Board commissioned the design of the SAT in 1926. This test was devised to assess ability and acquired knowledge more broadly so that the exam would not depend upon the specifics of any curriculum. The College Board contracts with Educational Testing Service (ETS) to help develop and administer the test.

Q: What kinds of research data from the College Board are available to the press?

The College Board has a long-standing commitment to conduct and disseminate educational research. In addition to research studies involving College Board programs and services (most notably the SAT and Advanced Placement Program), research has been conducted on a broad range of educational topics, including college placement, high school curriculum and grades, access and retention in higher education, student characteristics and preparation, educational policy, and other areas. Click here for available online research reports or contact the Office of Communications and Public Affairs. Click here for SAT-specific research.