Entry
Entries A-Z
Subject index
Scholastic Aptitude Test
The College Board SAT Program consists of the “SAT Reasoning Test” and “SAT Subject Tests.” The SAT Reasoning Test is a 3-hour, 45-minute multiplechoice test that includes the Critical Reading section, the Math section, and the Writing section. Each section is scored on a scale of 200 to 800; thus, the perfect score for the test is 2,400. The SAT Subject Tests are 1-hour, multiple-choice tests in specific subjects. These tests are achievement tests that measure knowledge of particular subjects and the ability to apply that knowledge. Many colleges require or recommend one or more of these tests for admission or placement purposes. The Subject Tests include Literature, U.S. History, World History, Mathematics Level 1, Mathematics Level 2, Biology E/M (Ecological or Molecular), Chemistry, Physics, French, French With Listening, German, German With Listening, Spanish, Spanish With Listening, Modern Hebrew, Italian, Latin, Japanese With Listening, Korean With Listening, and Chinese With Listening. Each individual test is worth 800 points. Some colleges require certain Subject Tests for admission or placement; others allow students to take tests of their choosing.
History
The SAT test was originally used by the College Board to measure the level achieved by students for admission purposes. The test first took root in the United States during the early part of the twentieth century. At that time, applicants for elite northeastern universities had to sit for entrance examination at each of the institutions. In an effort to simplify the application process, the 12 top northeastern universities founded a new organization, the College Entrance Examination Board. Later, the board developed a new exam that contained mostly multiple-choice questions: the Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT). In 1941, after considerable development, the test was renamed Scholastic Aptitude Test.
In 1947, the Educational Testing Service (ETS) was founded in Princeton, New Jersey. Since then, the SAT test has been developed and administered by ETS for the College Board, which is the owner of the test. After that time, the SAT test was widely used by universities and colleges around the country for admission purposes.
With success of SAT came the success of SAT coaching schools, for example, Kaplan and Princeton Review. Under the pressure that a test that can be coached cannot really measure innate aptitude, College Board changed the name in 1990 to Scholastic Assessment Test. In 1994, the College Board further announced that SAT was not an acronym any more, but the actual name of the test.
Changes to the Sat
In March 2005, ETS first administered the SAT Reasoning Test. The previous test (known as the “SAT I: Reasoning Test”) was criticized for not being aligned enough with the high school curriculum. As a result, the test was redesigned to enhance its relation with current high school curriculum and to emphasize skills necessary for success in college, including reading, writing, and math.
Changes included renaming the “Verbal Reasoning Section” of the test the “Critical Reading Section.” Analogies questions were replaced by more questions on short and long reading passages.
In the Math Section, items from more advanced math courses such as second-year Algebra were added to the test, while quantitative comparison items were eliminated.
...
- Loading...
Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL
-
Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life -
Read modern, diverse business cases
-
Explore hundreds of books and reference titles
Read next
More like this
Sage Recommends
We found other relevant content for you on other Sage platforms.
Have you created a personal profile? Login or create a profile so that you can save clips, playlists and searches