Beginning in the spring of 2005, a score of 1600 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test will not be quite the ego trip it is today.
The changes to the test announced by the College Board last summer, in the second overhaul of the test in less than a decade, will be enacted in a year and a half.
Modifications to the SAT will include the addition of an essay writing section and more rigorous math testing. The test also will be evaluated on a scale running from 200 to 2400. The present scale's maximum score is 1600.
The College Board will begin administering the SAT in its new format in March 2005.
"The changes being planned for the SAT in 2005 will support national school reform efforts to strengthen curricula and reflect what students need to know to get into college, graduate and move on to fulfilling careers," SAT Program Executive Director Brian O'Reilly said in a prepared statement.
In the New SAT, analogies will be eliminated from the verbal section, which will be renamed "critical reading" and include additional paragraph-long reading selections.
The new writing section will require students to write an essay and answer multiple choice grammar questions testing their ability to improve paragraphs and identify sentence errors.
The revised math section will include concepts taught in Algebra II. The current test only covers the initial two years of high school math, Geometry and Algebra I.
University Dean of Admissions John A. Blackburn was out of the country yesterday and was unable to comment on the changes.
Charlottesville High School set up a testing center this year to help students prepare for both the state-mandated Standards of Learning tests and the SATs, CHS Principal Kenneth Leatherwood said.
Classroom instruction, which already heavily emphasizes writing because of SOL and federal "No Child Left Behind" guidelines, will help students perform well on the new writing portions of the SAT, Leatherwood added.
Critics of the College Board said the changes do not correct the problems of standardized testing.
"The so-called New SAT is primarily driven by marketing concerns," said Robert Schaeffer, public education director for the National Center for Fair and Open Testing.
"It's a pasted-together response by College Board administrators under the threat that the University of California would drop the test," he added.
Addressing the American Council on Education in 2001, Richard Atkinson, president of the University of California system, recommended the system no longer require undergraduate applicants take the test.
The College Board has "laid the foundation for a new test that will better serve our students and schools," Atkinson said when changes to the SAT were announced.
Despite his previous reservations, Atkinson described himself as a strong supporter of standardized testing.
Schaeffer disagreed.
"The SAT will continue to be an unnecessary and coach-able hurdle," he said
The PSAT will undergo similar changes to acclimate students to the new format. The new PSAT test, however, will not require an essay, and math questions will not exceed Algebra I concepts.
The first SAT test was administered in June 1926 and the multiple choice test has since become a hallmark of the college admissions process.
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