College Board Might Alter Format of SAT

The College Board will meet in June to determine the changes in the three-hour math and verbal test.

UNC Director of Admissions Jerome Lucido said the proposed revisions would include a writing component, including short essay and multiple-choice questions, along with higher level math problems.

Michael Reid, assistant to the College Board vice president of communication and public affairs, said nothing about the revision is final. He also said the College Board was merely announcing the idea of revisions to the test.

"Everything is very preliminary," he said.

Lucido said the SAT is the focal point for criticism of the college admission process because of its notoriety for measuring reasoning and aptitude skills, rather than what students are learning in the classroom.

"It's always been an easy scapegoat because its indicated inequities in the system," he said.

Lucido said the revised SAT will be a reference for measuring what students are learning in the classroom.

"Students will be happy that what they are learning will be tested," he said. "It will be a national benchmark -- a way to understand student achievement on a national scale. It is a very good instrument to test reasoning skill."

Lucido said some of the revisions should have been on the SAT from the beginning.

"I support providing more advanced math concepts, such as trigonometry," he said. "And I am happy they are looking at writing."

Lucido said the last time the SAT was revised was 1994, and even then he supported a writing portion on the test.

"I was a proponent of putting a writing component on the SAT -- always have been," he said.

Lucido said one of the advantages of the revision is that it will provide additional writing samples from each student applying to college.

"We will be able to validate a student's writing skill," he said. "There is always a question of the authenticity of a student's (admissions) essay -- not that it happens very often with our students, but they get help of some kind. This is a way to observe writing done in a controlled environment."

Lucido said UNC has never considered eliminating the SAT as an admission requirement. He also said the importance of the SAT will not waiver in the process.

"Assuming it measures the same as it does today, it will carry the same weight in the admissions process," he said.

While Lucido is not sure about the public's reaction toward the revisions, he said that no one has ever loved the idea of the SAT.

"I think people will welcome it," he said. "But nobody will love the idea of being tested and having it bear on the future. There will be curiosity toward it, but ultimately it's an exam you're going to take on a SAT morning."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.