high school seniors...& older...we got out JUST in time!

...or did we...? Put to a new test High school students face revamped SAT By Sherry Parmet UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER March 12, 2005 The SAT, a staple in college admission decisions, debuts today in a remodeled format that better reflects what schools teach and students learn in class. In its broadest revision in half a century, the test no longer contains those irksome analogies – fallacy is to idea as misnomer is to name – that sent test takers head scratching. Instead, there will be a timed essay question, more-advanced math, and a longer test overall. The College Board, which administers the SAT, trumpets the new test as a better reflection of the curricula used in schools, so stellar scores should not correlate as much with tutoring from pricey test-preparation providers. Tutoring companies, however, say the test is more coachable than ever, and the changes have brought a flurry of students to their doors. Matthew Poling, a junior at Steele Canyon High School in Spring Valley, boasts an impressive résumé – straight A's, Advanced Placement classes and a coveted spot on his school's varsity tennis team. He sought tutoring from The Princeton Review because the new essay section rattled him, and he believes standardized tests play an ever-larger role in increasingly competitive college admission decisions. "Back when my parents were in school, I guess they were pretty casual about it," he said. "You'd take your test, get your score and go to college. Now everyone wants to go to college. And with the new test, I was like, 'I need help.' " The SAT was revised by the New York-based College Board after Richard Atkinson, then-president of the University of California, said in 2001 that the exam was a poor predictor of college success because it failed to measure what today's students learn. He threatened to stop using it in entrance decisions if it wasn't modified. The SAT, first offered in 1926, has gone through various revisions. In 1994, the reading passages were lengthened, questions on antonyms were dropped and students were allowed to use calculators. Besides the essay, the most recent modifications will include multiple-choice grammar questions asking test takers to identify errors and ways to improve sentences and paragraphs. The math section will extend to algebra II and cover concepts such as exponential growth, functional notation, absolute value and negative and fractional exponents. Some of the more confusing mathematical brainteasers – quantitative comparisons, for example – will be thrown out. The test will be three hours and 45 minutes (:shock, up from three hours, and there will be more points – 2,400 instead of 1,600 ( :shock. The registration cost will increase from $28.50 to $41.50 ( :shock, though there are waivers for students in low-income families. Brian ****, director of SAT information services for the College Board, said that historically students have sought private coaching because they were unfamiliar with much of the material in the exam. "The hope is that by making the test look like all the other tests you take in high school (mmmmm.....), we'll reduce the pressure on students to seek outside coaching," he said. "However, there's an industry out there and they've done a lot of advertising and created a need for themselves. So they will probably continue to do well." Andy Lutz, vice president of program development for The Princeton Review, criticized the new SAT and questioned whether it is more aligned to high school curricula than the old version. Rather than measuring what students learn in school, he said, the questions still seek to trick students. (mmmmhmm!) The upside for test-preparation companies is that the exam, and particularly the essay, is more coachable than ever, Lutz said, so much so that his corporation is doubling its improvement guarantee, promising students a 200-point increase or free classes for up to an additional year. "This is the largest growth we've seen in this business since the last time the SAT changed in 1994," Lutz said. Jennifer Karan, national director of SAT programs for Kaplan, which conducts test-preparation programs, said it's easy to help students hone their writing skills by pointing out the types of grammar pitfalls that will get them into trouble on the essay, such as lack of subject and verb agreement and incorrect use of prepositions. Students can also be coached on how to write with clarity, back up their arguments and stick to the topic in the allotted time. "For students who are not exposed to these skills in the regular academic curriculum, preparation becomes key," she said. Jill Duoto, director of Brilliant Learning Center in Carmel Valley, said it was much harder to help students cram for the analogy section on the old test, which meant memorizing scores of new vocabulary words. "You can't really expand their vocabulary much in two to three months," she said. (tru, tru...) ( the rest of the article can be found here... http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/education/20050312-9999-7m12sat.html ) ------------------------------------- so what does it look like......seems like a test u would've wanted to partake in...or no? shoot, all i had to see was "extended math section" to know that THANK GOD I GRADUATED FROM H.S. IN '02!!! WHOO-HOO!!!!! & i love writing, don't get me wrong, but i hated them writing tests we had 2 take back in, what, the 8th grade? 10th grade? i HATED them jointz....so that's another aspect of it i wouldn't be lookin' 4ward to... & 2400 pointz?! wth?! so i guess my 1050 would just REALLY look like some garbage to the upcoming generations who don't know about the "1600" best score :?