Ditch the pencil, SAT exams go digital

If there’s an SAT exam in your future or that of your child, don’t worry about scrounging up a perfectly sharpened No. 2 pencil. You have outlived the paper era of the college entrance exam.

Starting Saturday, an almost-century-old rite of academic passage for high schoolers will have bowed to the digital age. Tests administered by computer on that day and on subsequent dates through June complete a transition first announced in January 2022 by the College Board, a nonprofit organization that administers the SAT.

TribLive approached that organization about the changes and spoke with a Kaplan Test Prep expert who offered some ideas students may want to keep in mind as they prepare to take the fully-online SAT.

For months, the College Board, educators and others have worked to prepare students for a test far different from what their parents or grandparents experienced.

For one thing, those tiny oval bubbles that had to be filled in to answer questions are no more. Instead, students will have downloaded the College Board’s new online delivery platform, Bluebook, onto their laptops, tablets or on school managed Chromebook and completed an exam setup.

The test is 2 hours and 14 minutes, versus the three-hour paper and pencil test, according to Jaslee Carayol, a spokeswoman for the New York City-based College Board.

Reading and writing passages are shorter, with one question tied to each passage instead of multiple questions that created higher stakes for how a student performed on any given answer.

“We’ve made this transition to digital because of the benefits to students and schools that digital makes possible, including a shorter test, yet with more time per question, and greater flexibility in terms of when, where, and how often the SAT is given,” Carayol said.

The test will be divided into two sections: reading/writing and math.

The SAT itself dates to 1926. In recent decades, the share of colleges and universities requiring the SAT decreased amid a fierce debate over its ability to predict college success and whether it disadvantages first-generation and minority students. The drop accelerated during the pandemic as testing centers closed.

But recent decisions by Dartmouth College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University to reinstate the exam as a college admission requirement have recast the debate.

About 1.9 million students in the class of 2023 took the SAT, compared to 1.7 million the previous year, according to the College Board.

Carayol said the College Board works with Khan Academy to provide free practice resources for the digital SAT.

In addition to this Saturday, the College Board lists two other weekend dates this spring, when students can take the exam outside of the school week. Those dates are: May 4 and June 1.

It also provides an interactive dashboard indicating test locations and distance to them based on zip codes.

On test day, the College Board recommends that students arrive with a fully charged device and have a power cord or portable charger to ensure their device remains powered up for the exam’s duration. Students will also need their admission ticket and a valid form of ID.

The College Board says it will continue to provide a paper and pencil option for students who are approved for receiving specific accommodation.

Heather Waite, Kaplan’s director of college admissions programs who has also worked as an SAT test instructor, discussed the changes, their significance and offered some suggestions. Her responses were edited for clarity and length.

Question: How big a deal are these changes?

Answer: This is the biggest change to hit the SAT in its 100-year history. On a scale of one to 10, this is definitely a 10. One of the very well received changes is the shorter duration of the exam. We’ve seen families and students giving very positive feedback about that change.

Q: Does a shorter exam mean less time for answers, or not so?

A: On average, they’ll have more time per question than they would have had on the paper and pencil SAT. It allows for a little more critical thinking and problem-solving skills to be used when they’re approaching those reading and writing and math questions. The SAT of the past had very long, sometimes antiquated, passages – 750 to 800 words, with 10 or 11 questions. It was a real challenge for students to stay focused while they’re trying to read through that and find the answers. But with the digital SAT, they’re shorter reading passages, most often just a paragraph with one single question attached to it.

Q: Is it the same test, but on a different platform?

A: It’s not simply the paper and pencil test on the computer. The format is different. The digital test is an adaptive test. What that means is students will take their first reading and writing module. And then their second reading and writing module will be on average either easier or more difficult, depending on how they did on that first reading or writing module. The same process repeats for math. The spirit behind it is to give a more accurate score in less time, so it becomes less of a test of endurance and more about actually measuring the content knowledge and the skill of the students. (The College Board says students routed to easier questions will not be disadvantaged in scoring)

Q: What about calculators?

A: Students are allowed to use a calculator for every question. The paper-and-pencil test had a no calculator section, which is anxiety provoking for some students. It’s nice to have the security of a calculator if you need it, and with the new test, there is a built-in calculator that students can access anytime, or they can bring their own approved calculator with them.

Q: Will this affect the wait for test scores?

A: They’ll receive their scores back faster. Instead of having to wait several weeks, which can be an anxious time, they’re going to receive their scores back in a matter of days. It’s going to allow students to be able to take their tests later in the school year.

Q: What about security in the digital SAT?

A: Once students are in the Bluebook app, they won’t be able to access Google, they won’t be able to search for anything or chat with anybody. So essentially, the system locks them into the platform.

Q: Cell phones?

A: We always advise our students to not take their cell phones to the testing center. And there will be proctors there. If a proctor does see a phone, they will likely just ask the students to either put it somewhere else in the room or to power it down entirely.

Q: What to consider in the days leading up to the exam?

A: In the last week, we don’t advise a lot of cramming because it can actually increase anxiety. But make sure you’re using new prep materials for the digital SAT. Kaplan has books that can be purchased on Amazon. The College Board has free practice tests that you can download. You can download the Bluebook app to get the authentic experience.

Q: The night before and the morning of the SAT?

A: Get a good night’s sleep and all the typical things – eat a light breakfast so you’re not hungry, and just try to take it one question at a time.

What about the notion that this is a make-or-break moment for a student’s future?

A: The truth is, it’s an important exam. But most students take this test more than once. It’s an important part of their application, but it’s not the only part. You know, they have this test score, but they’re also a whole person with their own unique interests. There’s letters of recommendation, GPA. There are extracurriculars, the essay that they wrote, that’s all part of the package. This is just one opportunity to shine on that college application.