|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Critical Reading |
|
Mathematics |
|
Writing |
|
The SAT® tests students’ reasoning
based on knowledge and skills developed through their course work. |
|
It measures their ability to analyze and solve
problems
by applying what they have learned in school. |
|
|
|
|
October 2004: New PSAT/NMSQT® |
|
March 2005: New SAT |
|
|
|
|
|
Class of 2005—current seniors |
|
Current SAT as seniors in fall 2004 |
|
New SAT as seniors in March 2005 (if necessary) |
|
Class of 2006—current juniors |
|
New PSAT/NMSQT as juniors in fall 2004 |
|
New SAT as juniors in March 2005 and later |
|
New SAT as seniors |
|
|
|
|
Yes, the SAT has changed several times since
it was first administered in 1926. |
|
The SAT evolves to meet the changing needs
of students, teachers, and colleges. |
|
The most recent changes were made
in 1994. (Adding writing to the SAT was recommended but not possible in
1994 due to inadequate technology and lack of large number of readers
needed.) |
|
|
|
|
To better reflect today’s classroom practices
and curriculum by replacing analogies with short reading passages and
quantitative comparisons with more math problems, some including content
from third-year college-preparatory math |
|
To reinforce the importance of writing skills |
|
To help colleges make better admissions and
placement decisions |
|
|
|
|
No, the new SAT will be designed so that a
student who could score a 500 on the math section (for example) of the
current SAT could score a 500 on the math section of the new test. |
|
97% of college-bound students complete 3 years
of math so the test will more closely measure the math they are already
studying. |
|
Extensive field trials confirmed that students
are taking more upper level math, which is why the overall difficulty of
the test is not affected. |
|
While the test is longer, field trials also
confirmed that the increased length of the test has no impact on the
students’ scores. |
|
|
|
|
|
Verbal |
|
Name will be changed to critical reading. |
|
Analogies will be eliminated. |
|
Short reading passages will replace analogies
and will measure the kind of reasoning formerly measured by analogies. |
|
|
|
|
|
CLAY:POTTER:: |
|
(A) stone:sculptor |
|
(B) machines:mechanic |
|
(C) hems:tailor |
|
(D) bricks:architect |
|
(E) chalk:teacher |
|
Correct answer: A |
|
|
|
|
|
The relationship between the “spectroscope” and
a
“star’s chemical composition” (lines 37–38) is most
like the relationship between |
|
(A) a periscope and a
submarine |
|
(B) a microscope and a
cellular structure |
|
(C) a generator and an
electrical charge |
|
(D) a test tube and an
experiment |
|
Correct answer: B |
|
|
|
|
|
Math |
|
Quantitative comparisons will be eliminated. |
|
The content is being expanded to reflect the
mathematics that
college-bound students typically learn during their first three
years
of high school. |
|
The reasoning aspects of the test together with
the expanded content
will more effectively assess the
mathematics necessary for student success in college. |
|
Math content on the PSAT/NMSQT will also be
enhanced, but it will
not include Algebra II because most students will not be familiar with
that level of math. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Roadside Diner cuts its cakes into 12
servings each. |
|
The number of these cakes B. 6
needed to make 78 servings |
|
(A) The quantity in column A is greater. |
|
(B) The quantity in column B is greater. |
|
(C) The two quantities are equal. |
|
(D) The relationship cannot be determined
from the information given. |
|
Correct answer: A |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Writing |
|
Multiple-choice grammar and usage questions |
|
Will measure the student’s understanding of how
to use language in a clear, consistent manner, how to revise and edit, and
how to recognize an error in a sentence. |
|
Student-written essay (SAT only) |
|
Will measure the student’s use of language:
logical presentation of ideas, development of a point of view, and clarity
of expression under timed conditions. |
|
Essay practice tool provided AT NO COST to all
schools administering the PSAT/NMSQT. |
|
|
|
|
|
Skills Feedback |
|
The PSAT/NMSQT provides individualized feedback
to students through its Score
Report Plus. |
|
The College Board is developing a similar tool
for the SAT. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tells students how their scores compare to those
of
other sophomores or juniors |
|
Tells students what SAT score ranges they can
expect |
|
Includes a question-by-question breakdown |
|
Helps students identify strengths and weaknesses
and provides tips on how to improve specific skills |
|
|
|
|
|
Students will use their Score Report Plus code
to access free enhancements online at www.collegeboard.com/psatextra: |
|
Complete explanations for all answers, including
why some
answers were wrong. |
|
Full explanations of answers for additional
higher-level math
practice SAT questions on the back of the PSAT/NMSQT
score report. |
|
Entire SAT essay scoring guide, plus actual
sample essay papers
at every score point for the practice essay on the back of the PSAT/NMSQT
score report. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Improve Your Skills—Examples |
|
Being precise and clear |
|
How to improve: Learn to recognize sentence
elements that are ambiguous and confusing. In your writing, choose words
carefully and connect them for clear meaning. See questions 4, 6, 8. |
|
Understanding geometry and coordinate geometry |
|
How to improve: Review geometry units in your
textbook involving perimeter, area, volume, circumference, angles, lines,
and slope. Familiarize yourself with the formulas given at the beginning of
math sections of the set. See questions 7, 13, 19. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Critical Reading |
|
Mathematics |
|
Writing |
|
|
|
|
|
Measures knowledge of genre, cause and effect,
rhetorical devices, comparative arguments, and the ability to recognize
relationships among parts of a text. |
|
Long and short reading passages are taken from
different fields: |
|
Natural sciences |
|
Humanities |
|
Social science |
|
Literary fiction |
|
Short reading passages, which replace analogies,
will measure the kind of reasoning formerly measured by the analogy
section. |
|
|
|
|
Dinosaurs have such a powerful grip on the
public consciousness that it is easy to forget just how
recently scientists have become aware of them.
A two-year-old child today may be able to rattle off
three dinosaur names, but
in 1824 there was only
one known dinosaur. Period. The word “dinosaur”
didn’t even exist until 1841. Indeed, in those early
years, the world was baffled by the discovery of
these absurdly enormous creatures. |
|
|
|
|
|
The reference to the “two-year-old child” (line
4) primarily serves to |
|
(A) challenge a popular assumption |
|
(B) highlight the extent of the change |
|
(C) suggest that a perspective is simplistic |
|
(D) introduce a controversial idea |
|
(E) question a contemporary preoccupation |
|
Correct answer: B |
|
The statement “Period” (line 6) primarily serves
to emphasize the |
|
(A) authoritative nature of the finding |
|
(B) lack of flexibility in a popular theory |
|
(C) stubborn nature of a group of researchers |
|
(D) limited knowledge about a subject |
|
(E) refusal of the public to accept new
discoveries |
|
Correct answer: D |
|
|
|
|
Emphasis on math reasoning: SAT math measures
the ability to apply math content to real-life problems. |
|
SAT is unique in having some “grid-in” questions
requiring student-produced responses—as recommended by NCTM (National
Council of Teachers of Mathematics). |
|
Approximately 15–20% of math questions on
the
new SAT and 15% of math questions on the new PSAT/NMSQT will
either cover new topics or will
cover existing topics in greater depth. |
|
|
|
|
70% of all high school students finish Algebra
II |
|
97% of college-bound students complete
3 years of math and 69% complete 4 or
more years of math |
|
92% of minority college-bound students
complete 3 years of math |
|
|
|
|
A scientific or graphing calculator will be
recommended for the new tests. |
|
Though every question can still be answered
without a calculator, calculators are definitely encouraged. |
|
Previously, a basic 4-function calculator was
recommended, but now scientific is the base level recommendation. |
|
Students should bring a calculator with which
they are comfortable and familiar. |
|
|
|
|
|
Expanded Number and Operations topics will
include: |
|
Sequences involving exponential growth |
|
Sets (union, intersection, elements) |
|
Expanded Data Analysis, Statistics, and
Probability
topics will include: |
|
Data interpretation, scatterplots, and matrices |
|
Geometric probability |
|
|
|
|
|
Expanded Algebra topics will include: |
|
Absolute value |
|
Rational equations and inequalities |
|
Radical equations |
|
Integer and rational exponents |
|
Direct and inverse variation |
|
Function notation |
|
Concepts of domain and range |
|
Functions as models |
|
Linear functions—equations and graphs |
|
Quadratic functions—equations and graphs |
|
|
|
|
|
Expanded Geometry and Measurement
topics will include: |
|
Geometric notation for length, segments, lines,
rays,
and congruence |
|
Problems in which trigonometry may be used as an
alternative method of solution |
|
Properties of tangent lines |
|
Coordinate geometry |
|
Qualitative behavior of graphs and functions |
|
Transformations and their effect on graphs of
functions |
|
|
|
|
|
If x-3 = 64, what is the value of
x ? |
|
(A) |
|
(B) |
|
(C) 4 |
|
(D) 8 |
|
(E) 16 |
|
Correct Answer: B |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the figure above, if line k has a slope of
-1,
what is the y-intercept of k? |
|
(A) 6 |
|
(B) 7 |
|
(C) 8 |
|
(D) 9 |
|
(E) 10 |
|
Correct Answer: B |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Multiple-choice Items |
|
3 types of multiple-choice writing questions: |
|
Identifying Sentence Errors |
|
Improving Sentences |
|
Improving Paragraphs |
|
|
|
|
|
Identifying Sentence Errors: |
|
It is likely that the opening of the
convention center,
previously set for July 1, would be postponed because
of |
|
(A) (B) (C) (D) |
|
the bricklayers’ strike. No error. |
|
(E) |
|
Correct Answer: C |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Improving sentences: |
|
Although several groups were absolutely opposed
to the outside support given the revolutionary government, other groups were
as equal in their adamant approval of that support. |
|
(A) were as equal in their adamant approval
of |
|
(B) held equally adamant approval of |
|
(C) were equally adamant in approving |
|
(D) had approved equally adamantly |
|
(E) held approval equally adamant of |
|
Correct Answer: C |
|
|
|
|
|
Improving paragraphs: |
|
(1) At one point in the movie Raiders of the
Lost Ark, the evil archaeologist Belloq shows the heroic Indiana Jones a
cheap watch. (2) If the watch were to be buried in the desert for a
thousand years and then dug up, Belloq says, it would be considered
priceless. (3) I often think of the scene whenever I consider the record
album–collecting phenomenon, it being one of the more remarkable aspects of
popular culture in the United States. (4) Collecting record albums gives us
a chance to make a low-cost investment that might pay dividends in the
future. |
|
[Excerpt from longer three-paragraph passage] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Improving paragraphs: |
|
In the context of the first paragraph, which
revision is most needed in sentence 3? |
|
(A) Insert “As a matter of fact” at the
beginning. |
|
(B) Omit the words “it being.” |
|
(C) Omit the word “scene.” |
|
(D) Change the comma to a semicolon. |
|
(E) Change “think” to “thought” and
“consider” to “considered.” |
|
Correct Answer: B |
|
|
|
|
|
Essay |
|
Students will read a short excerpt, or two
quotations, and respond
to a prompt that frames an issue. |
|
Student must first think critically about the
issue presented in the essay
assignment and then define and support their point of view, using reasoning
and evidence based on their own experience, readings, or observations. |
|
The essay will be similar to the type of
on-demand writing that is typically done in college |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The essay will not be coachable since students
must respond directly to the assigned topic. |
|
Essays not written on the assigned topic will
receive a subscore of zero for the essay portion of the writing section. |
|
|
|
|
|
Readers will |
|
understand that the essay is a first draft; |
|
read quickly to gain an impression of the whole
essay relative to the holistic Scoring Guide and the sample range-finder
essays; |
|
read the entire essay before scoring and then
score immediately; |
|
read supportively, looking for and rewarding
what is done well rather than what is done badly or omitted; |
|
not judge an essay by its length or the quality
of handwriting; |
|
understand that grammar is not an overriding
factor in determining an
essay score; and |
|
consider spelling only when errors are so
persistent that they interfere
with meaning. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Procedures will be similar to those for the
current
SAT Subject Test in Writing. |
|
Essays will be scored by trained high school
English teachers and college professors with experience teaching writing. |
|
Each essay will be scored independently by two
readers according
to the holistic Scoring Guide in conjunction with sample essays selected
for training. |
|
Essays will be scored on a scale of 1 to 6 by
each reader
(total score of 2 to 12). |
|
Essays will be scanned and distributed to
readers via the Web. |
|
Scoring and reader supervision will take place
online. |
|
|
|
|
If the two readers’ scores differ by more than
one point, the essay will be read by a third reader. |
|
Based on the College Board’s experience in
scoring the SAT Subject Test in Writing, the rigorous reader training and
qualification process, and continuous monitoring of readers as they score,
the College Board expects that less than
8 percent of all essays
will call for a third reader. |
|
|
|
|
Colleges that accept the SAT will continue to
do so, and all will receive the writing score. |
|
Many colleges have announced that they will require
or recommend that students taking any college admissions exam must submit a
writing score (including an essay) beginning with those entering college in
the fall of 2006. |
|
|
|
|
A recent College Board sampling of 774 four-year
colleges indicates that 59 percent of the institutions sampled will use the
writing score
for admissions and another 31 percent are still considering its use. |
|
The colleges varied by admissions selectivity
and size, and represented a good cross-section
of higher education institutions. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The findings: |
|
74 percent of respondents say they will use the
new SAT writing score in admissions decisions. |
|
68 percent of respondents plan to download and
print applicants’ essays. |
|
35 percent of these respondents said they would
read
all essays, and 19 percent said they would read most essays. |
|
32 percent of respondents will use the essay for
course placement. |
|
|
|
|
|
The reasons most often cited by those
respondents saying that they plan to read applicants’ essays were: |
|
To provide additional information about a
candidate’s writing skills |
|
To compare and verify an application essay |
|
To use as an additional placement essay |
|
|
|
|
|
|
January 2005: The SAT Subject Text
in Writing will be administered for the
last time. |
|
All other SAT Subject Tests will continue,
including Math I and Math II. |
|
|
|
|
|
Students should: |
|
Challenge themselves throughout high school by
taking rigorous courses, including at least 3 years of math |
|
Read and write as much as possible—both in and
outside of school |
|
Familiarize themselves with the SAT so they know
what to expect
on test day |
|
Familiarize themselves with the different types
of questions on the SAT, the directions for each type of question, and how
the test is scored. |
|
Take the new PSAT/NMSQT in October 2004—the new
PSAT/NMSQT will be the best preparation for the new SAT |
|
|
|
|
|
How ScoreWrite works: |
|
Students write essays on topic included in
ScoreWrite™ under the same test conditions and time limit as the new SAT
essay. |
|
Teachers learn to read and score these essays
using the same techniques and scoring guide that will be used by scorers of
the new SAT essay. |
|
First version mailed to all schools
in January–February 2004. |
|
New version mailed every August to all
participating PSAT/NMSQT schools. |
|
Added feature of the new version will be
a matrix showing students how to get a projected SAT writing score range
by combining their PSAT/NMSQT score with their ScoreWrite essay score. |
|
|
|
|
|
Availability of Sample Questions |
|
The PSAT/NMSQT Student Bulletin, the free
booklet that includes a full-length practice test, will be available early
fall 2004. |
|
The 2004 PSAT/NMSQT Score Report Plus will be
sent to schools in December 2004 and will include explanations for every
question (available online to any student who takes the PSAT/NMSQT in
2004). |
|
The 2004 PSAT/NMSQT Score Report Plus mailing
will include advanced math sample questions. |
|
The new SAT Preparation Booklet™,
(the successor to Taking the SAT), the free booklet that includes a
full-length practice test, will
be available in fall 2004. |
|
|
|
|
|
Availability of Sample Questions |
|
The Official SAT Study Guide: For the New SAT ™,
will be available in fall 2004. |
|
The Official SAT Online Course™, the
successor to
One-on-One with the SAT®, will be
available in fall 2004. |
|
The online SAT Learning Center® at www.collegeboard.com
will include new
SAT sample questions beginning in fall 2004. |
|
|
|
|
|
Notes