Students Concerned About SAT Timing Error

For many juniors around the country, the scariest and most difficult part of the school year is preparing for and taking standardized college admission tests. Most take the tests more than once, and prepare for months in advance and use their weekends to take full-length practice exams. Taking the practice exams can consume entire days and are dreaded by the students involved. Students have little control over the process, and are often anxious and stressed. That's why an error on the timing of the tests by the College Board on June 6 has caused so much anger.

The SAT is structured into 10 sections; three written sections that are divided into one essay and two multiple choice sections, three math sections, three reading sections, and one experimental section which does not factor into the student's grade. The first seven sections of this exam are 25 minutes each, and are comprised of two math sections, two reading sections, two writing sections (one multiple choice and the essay), and the experimental section. The final three sections are shorter; a math and reading section that are 20 minutes each, and a ten-minute writing section. During the exam on June 6, due to a misprint on the exam and confusion with the exam proctors, some students received 25 rather than 20 minutes to complete the last two reading sections. As a result, the College Board has decided not to score those two sections.

As can be expected, students, deans and parents are concerned. Two sections un-scored means that 22% of the true exam --that is the exam that goes towards a student's score -- would be lost. So in addition to losing the results of these two sections, the scored sections will be more heavily weighted. Some people are calling for the College Board to arrange a makeup exam, at their own expense. The College Board has said, "The SAT is designed to collect enough information to provide valid and reliable scores even with an additional unscored section." Even if this is true, the unscored section would still have the potential to change the student's score by some margin. Unfortunately, for most juniors, there won't be another opportunity to improve their scores, so the incorrect score they receive has even more potential to affect their futures.

This mishap could also affect future students, as sophomores begin to decide which standardized test they want to take in the future ... the SAT, or ACT? Since 2006, fewer high school students have taken the SAT each year, while at the same time more students have opted to take the ACT. From the students we sampled, more juniors in Scarsdale appear to take the ACT exam, and more sophomores seem to be considering the ACT.

We asked Scarsdale High School Dean Andrea O'Gorman for her advice for students who took the flawed test. She said, "My advice to students is not to panic. Testing is a process, not a one-shot endeavor. Students should wait to see their individual scores and compare them to their practice scores and ultimate test scoring goals. If the scores are in line with these measures, that's great. If not, they can look to future test dates for other opportunities. Regardless of their scores, the deans are available to help students fine tune their testing plan."

In other news on the event, a student from Long Island has filed a class-action lawsuit against the College Board for "breach of contract and negligence", arguing that the abbreviated test does not properly represent the SAT, calling it instead "SAT with an asterisk." Read more about the suit here.