What Parents Need to Know About the New SAT

There is a big change coming that will affect your child’s chances of getting into the college of their choice. Parents need to be aware of what that change is and what it means for them and their child. It has to do with what most every college looks at first off when applications come rolling across their desk. The dreaded SAT. If you have a child in high school, this information can help in knowing what those changes are and how best to prepare for them. This information is brought to you from Athena Learning Centers. You can read the source article here.

The focus of the New SAT is changing to add in more problem-serving and critical thinking.

One of the big news stories of last week was the College Board’s announcement that they are reformulating the SAT test, which hasn’t been updated in more than a decade. This story had a lot of moving parts to it, but they all have an effect on soon-to-be high school seniors and their families. Let’s look at the changes and sort out the consequences to students and parents.

 College and career readiness

 Although not specifically aligned to the Common Core, the new SAT and the new standards share a similar goal. The Common Core wants to prepare students for college and career. The SAT wants to predict how successful a student will be once they get there. This mindset gave rise to many of the specific changes to the test.

 Useful vocabulary

 Gone are the words that SAT testers force themselves to study for the test but never use again in their lives. Vocabulary questions will focus on words that students can actually be expected to use in school and in their career. While this might still mean endless flashcards, at least the student can expect to see the word again.

 Optional essay

 An essay was added to the SAT starting in 2005. While it’s universally agreed that writing skills are important for college and career, the essay questions were usually something vague and having nothing to do with college and career performance. The College Board feels that the writing done in the new Evidence-based Reading and Writing section will accomplish this goal more completely. The essay, while still available, will be optional and the colleges will decide whether they want to see those scores or not.

 Non-fiction and informational reading passages

 Like the Common Core, the SAT is moving toward using more informational reading sources and less literature. Again, this is reflective of what students can expect to see when they leave high school. Very few jobs require workers to analyze literature; almost every job requires workers to analyze information.

 Re-imagined math

 Math questions will come in three varieties: problem solving and data analysis; the heart of algebra; and passport to advanced math. There will also be a section where the students will not be allowed to use calculators, a departure from the previous version where calculators were accepted throughout the test.

 No wrong answers

 Students will no longer be penalized for wrong answers. Instead, they simply earn points for questions they get correct. Therefore there is no penalty for guessing and students should feel free to pick the answer that makes the most sense.

 Athena Learning Center of College Station has teamed up with The Princeton Review to bring you the best, most up to date, SAT and ACT exam prep classes available. Taught by highly trained and evaluated tutors specifically knowledgeable on the SAT and ACT, we can provide classes guaranteed to raise your child’s scores by 200 points. You can call us at (979) 314-9132 or check out our website for more information here www.athenalearningcenters.com/collegestation-tx