Digital SAT changes how teachers and students prepare

GEORGETOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — For the first time ever, high school juniors are ditching the No. 2 pencils and preparing to open their laptops for the new digital SAT.

“I think that the students are more comfortable with the digital test because they’ve seen this environment,” Jessica Rollins, executive director of Sylvan Learning, said.

Though there are mixed opinions about standardized testing, Rollins said the SAT, required for all Michigan juniors, is a reflection of both college and career readiness. It’s also a key factor in college admissions and scholarship opportunities.

“Even though the college or career your child is looking at may not require the SAT, there’s no reason to still not take that test to get a feeling of how comfortable or how ready are they going to be for the content,” Rollins said.

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The digital version of the SAT, she believes, gives students a better opportunity to showcase that.

“On the new test, the students take a section A, which is computer adaptive, so that means they see a question (and) if they get it correct, they’re going see more difficult questions. If they get those incorrect, they’re going to see easier questions. And then their second section is going to depend on the difficulty of their score from the first section.”

It’s changed the way tutors at Sylvan help students prepare.

“The emphasis on our program went a little bit more from strategies, which is what we focused on the paper-based test, to more of the academic content on the digital test,” Rollins explained.

The key differences in the digital test are that it’s an hour shorter, students get more time for each question, reading passages are shorter and the math section is entirely calculator-based and includes a graphing calculator. There are also built-in accommodations for students with disabilities so teachers no longer have to submit requests.

“I think the digital SAT is way better,” Jenison High School junior Braden Riha said.

His class is the first to take the test fully online. He has experience taking that version and the traditional in-person exam.

“The format of the English sections… they’re way shorter, so it’s easier for students to read the passages and then answer the questions in a timely manner. It’s less stressful,” Riha said.

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Most students like Riha are familiar with online testing, but Jenison High School Principal Michael Leiter explained that though it’s not a total transition, it’s new for high-stakes testing.

“The new calculator system and a lot of the supports that are built into the testing environment are kind of new for our staff and our kids,” Leiter explained. “So we’ve been using resources available to us to get training on those tools.”

That includes having consultants from the county intermediate school district come in and work with students, who at Jenison begin preparing for the SAT much sooner than 11th grade.

“Our school and our teachers do a nice job collaborating together and preparing the kids knowing that the SAT’s coming in their junior year, so as early as seventh grade, our kids are taking SAT-like assessments,” Leiter said.

The goal is to make sure students feel as comfortable as possible walking in on test day.

“We’ve had five SAT prep nights and we’ve had over 100 students each night come,” Leiter said. “Our teachers come and they work with the kids on skills and test-taking strategies and things about the test to be successful. And then we actually give a full practice test on a Saturday morning, which we had great participation with as well.”

Teachers go through proctor training to manage online testing sessions and learn how to be good observers.

When students take the test, they log in to the testing program on a Chromebook and cannot access any other site or application. There’s a built-in timer and several support resources.

Despite the changes and necessary extra training, Leiter said he sees the benefits of the digital SAT.

“I think leveraging technology for testing, it makes a lot of sense for the people when we are testing large amount of students. Some people really enjoy that. A lot of the principals I work with are excited about this new testing environment because it’s easier to manage, it’s easier to have the students interact with the tests,” he said.

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A new flexible testing window for the PSAT 9, the PSAT 10 and the SAT also gives schools an opportunity to break up testing over several weeks, rather than having to test everyone on one specific day.

“It was kind of stressful when students had to come back from spring break, have one day of school and take the SAT, so what the College Board has done is listened to us a little bit,” Leiter said.

He also acknowledged that standardized testing isn’t the end-all, be-all for everyone, which is why many colleges have shifted to test-optional admissions, putting more emphasis on extracurriculars and leadership experience.

“We put so much time and effort into developing all of our students. We give them opportunities in athletics and activities and so many opportunities to develop themselves as a whole person, but yet, sometimes so much emphasis is put on what one three-hour, four-hour test is not exactly, I don’t think, best practice,” Leiter said. “So I think we’re learning, I think I think we’re growing as this educational system, so I like to see our colleges listening to us as well as we report back.”

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