In my previous article on the College Board's possible changes to the SAT, I reported that College Board President David Coleman had hinted at changes to the writing and critical reading portions of the test, as well as overall updates to reflect the new Common Core standards. But in a recent email to College Board members, Mr. Coleman announced that the overhaul of the SAT would begin in earnest in the near future. While still light on specifics, the email noted:
"We will develop an assessment that mirrors the work that students will do in college so that they will practice the work they need to do to complete college. An improved SAT will strongly focus on the core knowledge and skills that evidence shows are most important to prepare students for the rigors of college and career. This is an ambitious endeavor, and one that will only succeed with the leadership of our Board of Trustees, the strong coordination of our councils and committees, and the full engagement of our membership."
Current high school students need not worry that the test will change overnight. The process will take several years to complete. The last major overhaul of the test took three years to implement, and I would expect at least that much time this time around, if not more. The College Board is only in the information gathering stage at this point, and it is far from rolling out actual test questions.
For more analysis, please read this article from Inside Higher Education.
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