SAT vs ACT: A Brief History and Comparison

1. or Choose Wisely! A Presentation by Everitt Clark This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

2. True or False?

3. “ACT” stands for: American College Test Another Crappy Test ¡Ay, caramba! Test! ACT What do these acronyms mean? “SAT” stands for: • Scholastic Aptitude Test • Scholastic Assessment Test • Scholastic Achievement Test • SAT “SAT” and “ACT” don't stand for anything because it's not particularly clear what the tests measure – except how good you are at taking them!

4. A Brief History of the SAT(in multiple choice format) James Conant, the president of Harvard, saw that only rich, well-connected preppies could get into good colleges. He was worried that the rejected (but smart) students would become communists unless there were a test that could help them get into schools like Harvard. Enter the SAT! Conant's former assisant started Educational Testing Services, the company that now writes the SAT. Which of the following played a role in the development of the SAT? • Eugenics • Communism • Ralph Nader • A sixth-grader in Florida • All of the above Ralph Nader and Allen Nairn published The Reign of ETS, which revealed that the SAT privileged the wealthy, the white, and the powerful – precisely the opposite of what it was supposed to do! Carl Brigham developed the Scholastic Aptitude Test in the 1920s. He was a proponent of eugenics – the belief that genetically superior people should pass on their genes to improve the “race”. He thought the SAT would help to demonstrate that aptitude/intelligence was a genetic trait. Later on, he disavowed his early racism, said that SAT didn't really measure intelligence, and tried to stop it from being used for college admissions... but it was too late. Richard Atkinson, the president of the University of California, visited his sixth-grade granddaughter's class and discovered that the teacher was already drilling them on SAT questions. He thought this was preposterous, and threatened to stop using the SAT in his school system. In 2005, ETS changed the SAT so that the University of California would keep using it.

5. An Even Briefer History of the ACT(in the form of an analogy) Coke is to Pepsi SAT is to ACT as... American College Testing was founded in 1959 by E. F. Lindquist to compete with ETS Initially, the ACT contrasted with the SAT: The ACT was popular in the midwest, the SAT on the coasts The ACT was chiefly used by public universities, the SAT by private ones The ACT claimed to measure mastery of the high school curriculum, the SAT to test aptitude regardless of knowledge But the ACT has become more like the SAT In 1989, the “Enhanced” ACT was introduced: the Social Studies test became a Reading test, and the Science test became a “Science” test By 2006 every college accepted the ACT, and by 2012 the ACT was more popular than the SAT.

6. A Glimpse into... the Near Future! The Revised SAT The ACT Jon L. Erickson, head honcho at ACT, Inc., has a very successful test on his hands. David Coleman, the new President of The College Board, has been a critic of the SAT for a long time. The ACT is only changing in fairly minor ways – most of which won't affect students who live outside the midwest or the deep south. Coleman was the main designer of the Common Core, so the new SAT will be more in line with those standards. Also, it will be morelike the ACT. The content will be similar, but there will be optional “constructed-response” questions and a revised essay. The New SAT will emerge from its chrysalis in March 2016. The New PSAT arrives in Fall 2015.

7. The SAT and the ACT today SAT ACT 10 sections (3 hrs. 45 min.) 3 Writing • 1 essay • 2 multiple choice 3 Math 3 Critical Reading 1 Experimental The order of sections is random, but the Essay is first and the shorter sections are at the end Several sections of each type Essay is required 5 sections (3 hrs. 25 min.) 1 English 1 Essay (optional) 1 Math 1 Reading 1 Science The sections always go in the same order: English, Math, Reading, Science, Essay One long section of each type Essay is optional

8. The SAT and the ACT today English About grammar, punctuation, and meaning in longer passages Math Through Pre-calc. No formulas provided. Lots of word problems. Reading Easy vocab. Straightforward questions. Time pressure. Science Not much science knowledge required. Time pressure. Essay (Optional) High-school focus. Write a lot. Writing (multiple-choice) About grammar and syntax, mostly in isolated sentences Math Through Algebra II. Formulas provided, but questions are tricky. Critical Reading Lots of tough vocab. Difficult questions about reading passages. NO Science Yay? Essay (Required) Broad topic. Write a lot.

9. How are the SAT and the ACT scored? SAT ACT Score Range: 600-2400 200-800 for each section; scores are then added together Graded on a curve Multiple choice questions have 5 answer choices Incorrect answers are penalized a fraction of a point (except on the Math grid-in questions), so you shouldn't randomly guess Most colleges “superscore” the SAT (use best section scores from all test dates) Score Range: 1-36 1-36 on each section; composite score is the average of these Graded on a curve Multiple choice questions have 4 answer choices (except for Math, which has 5) NO “guessing penalty”, so you should never leave a question blank. Guess away! Most colleges do NOT “superscore” the ACT (they use your best single test) The average SAT score is around 1500, and the average ACT score is 21. An easy SAT-ACT score conversion chart is on the back of the handout. Make sure you grab a copy!

10. The Redesigned SAT in a nutshell • The Redesigned PSAT rolls out in October 2015, the Redesigned SAT in March 2016. You'll be able to take the Current SAT until January 2016. • Instead of the Current SAT's three subject areas – Critical Reading, Writing, and Math – there will now be only two: “Evidence-based Reading and Writing” (i.e. the Critical Reading and Writing subjects smushed together) and Math. • The maximum SAT score will again be 1600 (ask your parents). • The essay will be optional. Competitive colleges will require it. (Like the ACT) • 4 answer choices instead of 5! (Like the ACT) • No guessing penalty! (Like the ACT) • Subscores on every section! (Like the ACT) • More graphs and word problems! (Like the ACT) • No more hard vocabulary words! (Like the ACT) • Revised motto: The Redesigned SAT™:It's the ACT™! • An optional computer-based version of the test will be available in select cities. • You will still be able to prepare for every section of the Redesigned SAT. You just won't need as many vocab flash cards.

11. Writing and Language About grammar, punctuation, and meaning in longer passages. Very similar to ACT English. Math Through Pre-calc. Formulas still provided. More word problems. Less geometry, more statistics. Calculator permitted for some problems, not for others. Reading “Relevant words in context” instead of hard vocab. No more sentence completions. Reading passages will be similar but include graphs. Essay (Optional) 50 minutes. Read an essay and analyze the author's point of view. Tomorrow's SAT vs. Today's SAT Writing (multiple-choice) About grammar and syntax, mostly in isolated sentences Math Through Algebra II. Formulas provided, but questions are tricky. Calculator permitted. Critical Reading Lots of tough vocab. Difficult questions about reading passages. Essay (Required) 25 minutes. You supply your own point of view on a broad topic.

12. What about upcoming changes to the ACT? • Some students in midwestern and southern states (not northern Virginia, alas) will have the option of taking the ACT on the computer starting in Spring 2015. • Students will have the option of taking additional 30-minute “constructed-response” (i.e. not multiple choice) Math, Reading, and Science sections. ACT hasn't announced when these will be available. • Starting in Fall 2015, the essay will no longer be all about providing your point of view on a topic relevant to high-schoolers. Now it will require you to analyze several viewpoints on a topic of broad interest. (A little bit like the Redesigned SAT Essay.) • More subscores on every section starting in Fall 2015! Yay subscores! • Revised motto: “The New ACT™: it's still the ACT™!”

13. Which test is right for you (class of 2016 or 2017)? The Current SAT if... The ACT if... You did extremely well on the PSAT. You are a slow but careful reader. You have a commodious vocabulary. You are a whiz at math-related brain teasers. Science = yuck gross You like gaming the test. You do great in school but so-so on the PSAT. You are a fast reader. Not so much with the vocab. You know your math formulas (up through trig). Science = bring it on. No games. Let's keep it real. A little from column A, a little from column B? You should try a full practice test of each kind. Free tests are in the office and online!

14. Which test is right for you (class of 2017-)? • Take a practice Redesigned PSAT when it becomes available on the College Board website in March 2015, or take a practice Redesigned SAT whenever one is released (probably summer 2015). • If you like the Redesigned SAT/PSAT, then prepare for and take the Redesigned SAT in March 2016 or later. • If you don't like the Redesigned SAT/PSAT, then take either the Current SAT (now through January 2016) or the ACT (whenever you feel like it). • All colleges will accept the Current SAT, the Redesigned SAT, or the ACT. The only thing you have to worry about is which test you prefer. • This presentation contains the most up-to-date information about the upcoming changes to the SAT and ACT, but the test makers will be releasing new information in the coming months. Visit the College Board or ACT website and sign up to receive updates as soon as they become available! • Check out pwnthesat.com (yes, that's how it's spelled) for more in-depth analysis of both the Current SAT and the Redesigned SAT.

15. A Few More Things to Consider • Plan to take either the SAT or the ACT twice during your junior year. You can order a copy of your SAT if you take the test in October, January, or May; you can get a copy of your ACT if you take the test in December, April, or June. • Do any of the colleges on your list require SAT Subject Tests? You can't take Subject Tests and the normal SAT on the same test date. Also, a few colleges accept the ACT in place of Subject Tests. • You can check out colleges' own websites or Naviance to find out how your scores match up with last year's incoming freshmen. Also make sure to check how much your favorite schools care about the Writing portion. • Most colleges will “superscore” your best SAT Math, Critical Reading, and Writing scores. For the ACT, most colleges use your best composite score, not your best individual section scores. • SAT/ACT scores are just one factor in college admissions. Keep that GPA up and get involved in extracurricular activities! • Several dozen schools are “test-optional”, and several hundred admit a significant number of students each year without regard to their test scores. • Tutoring and diligent study can raise your score, but it is just as important to know what your testing options are and to have clear goals.

16. A Final Thought "The test movement came to this country … accompanied by one of the most glorious fallacies in the history of science, namely that the tests measured native intelligence purely and simply without regard to training or schooling. I hope nobody believes that now. The test scores very definitely are a composite including schooling, family background, familiarity with English, and everything else." - Carl Brigham, creator of the SAT

17. SAT or ACT: Choose Wisely! For more information about the SAT and ACT, please visit my website: EVERITTCLARK.COM