By TONY EVANS
For the Express
About 20 Wood River Valley high school students had a crack at the newly revamped Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) on Saturday, March 12, at The Community School Campus in Sun Valley. They were among 330,000 students nation-wide who took the new test. For the first time, the SAT contains a mandatory 25-minute personal essay component, bringing an element of creativity to this rigorously standardized institution. In addition to the new essay, grammar and reading questions were added, as well as more advanced algebra. Quantitative comparisons and vocabulary analogies were eliminated. (No more: "wax is to candle as wood is to ___.")
The SATs have given the woollies to college bound students for 80 years now, providing scores that are used by colleges to judge how well a student has done in high school and how well they are likely to do in college. An SAT score can mean the difference between getting into Stanford University, or a local community college. Due to its importance, a major industry has developed over the years around preparation for the SAT Test, which is preferred over the ACT Test by first tier and East Coast colleges and universities.
Rene Chalfant, of The Community School, administered the test Saturday. "Some of these kids looked really exhausted after taking the test," she said. "Many of them weren't used to writing in longhand for forty-five minutes. They have been on computers since sixth grade." The new test takes about four hours to complete.
According to Community School Director of College Counseling and English teacher Bob Brock, "Preparation for the SAT Test is compatible with preparation for college." Brock and Community School math teacher Richard Hilsaire offer an SAT familiarization course for high school students planning to take the test. The course is based on the College Board's own "Official Study Guide to the SAT," which includes sample sections, mock tests, and the rubric of study for the new essay component.
The SAT essays will be scanned, then the images downloaded by thousands of essay graders, mainly high school and college teachers around the country. Each essay will be scored on a scale from one to six by two graders according to specific criteria designed by the College Board. If the readers disagree by more than one point, the essay goes to a third reader. According to Brock, "Only three percent of essays are passed on to a third reader."
"The major reason we offer the course is to reduce anxiety about the test," Brock said. "The test is now more about 'substance' rather than about tricks."
"The SAT has switched from a test of pure aptitude to what the end goal of a high school education should be," Brock said. "It tests a student's ability to write on command on an open topic, to organize thoughts and respond critically to writings in science, history, and literature. If a student were to successfully quote 'Hamlet' in their essay, it could definitely help their score."
The next testing classes for this spring are Saturday, May 7, and Saturday, June 4.
In order to learn more about Brock and Hilsaire's SAT course, call Chalfant at The Community School, 622-3955. To register for the SAT test, go to Collegboard.com.
