wapiti Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 (edited) I saw a news article today that our state has just decided to change from requiring the ACT of all juniors to the Redesigned SAT. I'm assuming this only applies to public school students. This includes the current junior class, who probably won't even find out about this until January when they return to school. My kids will probably take both, so I'm not sure I care, but I'm amazed that the deciders went with a test that has no track record yet. (Hmmm, what does that remind me of? Oh yeah, the PARCC, which now will not be required of sophomores and juniors.) I don't know why I'm posting - guess I'm just a little surprised and I feel bad for the current juniors if they haven't been planning on the SAT. ETA, apparently sophomores will take the PSAT. I don't think I understand. Edited December 24, 2015 by wapiti 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 My DD is the director of an organization that has been offering free ACT tutoring to local highschoolers and that just bought new prep books for all teachers - she just found out. Joy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 Wow, what a shame about the wasted books! Her job will be even more difficult with the limited prep material for the new SAT. I was reading a discussion over at CC about the Khan questions not necessarily being authentic/not having been written by CB. I could speculate on the reasons that CB is competing so hard on price. I wonder what effect is had on the scores if large numbers of potentially non-college-bound students take the SAT. Perhaps that's why the ACT has long enjoyed a reputation of being "easier" to score higher? I'm just thinking out loud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Huh. Some states require all kids to take a certain test? The SAT has long reigned supreme in our neck of the woods - when I was young no one much even realized there was another test - but no one is required to take it. Turns out my kids who have taken them so far have both scored much better on the ACT, but I know I've heard for some people it's the other way around... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 They have free practise test sessions for the new SAT at the libraries here sponsored by either Kaplan and/or the local tutoring cenfers. "Students in 7th grade and up are invited to come and take the New SAT test. This is a great opportunity to practice test taking skills and to see how the test works. Age(s): School Age Gr 6-8, School Age Gr 9-12" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29304271/colorado-juniors-will-take-sat-college-entrance-exam "show me the money" When did the regular SAT cover science? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29304271/colorado-juniors-will-take-sat-college-entrance-exam "show me the money" When did the regular SAT cover science? ??? Or social studies? Did these people even look at what they were buying? That doesn't make any sense at all... Wait... are they confusing the SAT with the Stanford Achievement Test, which does include science and social studies?? But that still doesn't make any sense with the PSAT, which most certainly doesn't. And why the heck are they administering the PSAT a year early when it doesn't count?? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Well, I can tell you that in my state, where the ACT is what is expected and what most students take unless they qualify for national merit scholarships on the PSAT, the state 50% SAT is at the 75% nationally. My DD's talent search scores looked MUCH better compared to the national scores. I know my local district requires either the ACT or WorkKeys to graduate, and so does the cover school we register under. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Our state just began offering the ACT to every Junior for free last year. I'm surprised to hear about the switch only because most states are firmly entrench in one test or the other. That would be annoying for those who had planned one and now have to take the other. Testing is such a money game. It is sad. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Michigan is switching this year, but we have known about it for a while, so students have been prepping for it instead of the ACT this year. The SAT is less expensive, from what I've read. All public or private students in the state take it (previously the ACT, now the SAT) as part of a set of tests in the spring of their junior year. My dc take it at our local public school; it's free and they generally get their best scores from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 In Hawaii the ACT is taken as a high school achievement test. This is at the school during the school day. I'm not sure if younger students take the full ACT or the PLAN and similar exams designed for lower grades. SAT is definitely looking at that lost market share as something to go after. I wonder when the choice to switch was made? I find it a poor choice at the moment given the lack of clear info about the new SAT. This is a year when a strategic choice to skip the SAT makes a lot of sense. I would have stayed with ACT at least until the dust settled. I wonder if the Common Core aligned branding was the selling point. Or if there was a discount on CB services for switching. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Related article on the shift to SAT from a couple months ago. http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/06/should-the-sat-be-part-of-school/395417/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 (edited) From various articles and comments, (eta, re: CO) I gather that the announcement was made yesterday and will become official at the end of a 7-day comment period occurring over winter break. If that's true, that alone is extremely sneaky and IMO puts up a few red flags regarding the decision process. On the one hand, I'm all in favor of competition on price, but on the other hand, one has to wonder what kind of sales job these educrats succumbed to to commit the state to a new form of the SAT that no one has taken yet. The shenanigans over the delayed score reporting of the PSAT and the issues with last June's SAT do not exactly inspire confidence in the quality of CB's products. While there are very significant barriers to entry in this market, it seems to me there may be some opportunity for competition for an otherwise experienced test provider. Now that the SAT is fully achievement, there's no ability test out there AFAIK. I wonder what adcoms think of all this. Edited December 24, 2015 by wapiti 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 related article: http://hechingerreport.org/getting-more-high-achieving-low-income-students-into-selective-colleges/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted January 1, 2016 Author Share Posted January 1, 2016 (edited) On the state changing the test from ACT to SAT, I'm seeing FB comments that parents of juniors are generally angry, while people who know nothing about the SAT being redesigned are wondering what the big deal is. related article: http://hechingerreport.org/getting-more-high-achieving-low-income-students-into-selective-colleges/ FWIW, IMO, if policymakers wanted more low-income students to get into selective colleges, the CB shouldn't have changed the SAT from an ability test to a quasi-achievement test as results may now reflect school quality. It's interesting that the article refers to "high achieving" rather than high ability. Edited January 1, 2016 by wapiti 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 ??? Or social studies? Did these people even look at what they were buying? That doesn't make any sense at all... Wait... are they confusing the SAT with the Stanford Achievement Test, which does include science and social studies?? But that still doesn't make any sense with the PSAT, which most certainly doesn't. And why the heck are they administering the PSAT a year early when it doesn't count?? In our previous state they started administering the PSAT to eighth grade honor students but all 9-11 grades took it as well. It was just practice for the grades it didn't count. In our current state, it's administered to all 10th and 11th grades. Again, it's just considered practice the year it doesn't count. The schools pay for all costs and send scores home with students. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 So surprised they require it. Do they also pay for it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 In my former district, yes. The ACT was required, and they paid for one test administration, in the fall of Senior Year. They also,paid for the PSAT in junior year. I think it was a PR thing-they had a big push for all kids to be college ready. Since the community college takes everyone who has a high school diploma and an ACT score, presto, college ready! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 In my former district, yes. The ACT was required, and they paid for one test administration, in the fall of Senior Year. They also,paid for the PSAT in junior year. I think it was a PR thing-they had a big push for all kids to be college ready. Since the community college takes everyone who has a high school diploma and an ACT score, presto, college ready! At least they had a score so they could see percentage-wise how they fit in with the overall test population (mentioned in the article I referenced). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 So surprised they require it. Do they also pay for it? Our district in VA tested all 9-11 graderswith the PSAT. The school paid for the 10th grade sitting. If you wanted official scoring in 9 or 11 grade you had to pay the CB fee. If you didn't pay ou would get your answer sheet back later with an answer key. So you still got the practice and feedback. Paying for 10 grade meant they could identify who might be in NMS range the next year and work with them to know about prep opportunities or to star college searches related to their scores. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Our district in VA tested all 9-11 graderswith the PSAT. The school paid for the 10th grade sitting. If you wanted official scoring in 9 or 11 grade you had to pay the CB fee. If you didn't pay ou would get your answer sheet back later with an answer key. So you still got the practice and feedback. Paying for 10 grade meant they could identify who might be in NMS range the next year and work with them to know about prep opportunities or to star college searches related to their scores. This is how it works in GA, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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