Get your teen ready for the new SAT.

• Author: Donnelly, Pamela
• Position: Education - SAT exams

"This test [is] touted by the College Board as more focused and practical compared to the SAT exams students have faced since 2005...."

PARENTS AND TEACHERS need to become aware of what is coming for students in the spring of 2016 when they view their test books for the new SAT. This test, touted by the College Board as more focused and practical compared to the SAT exams students have faced since 2005, no longer will require a timed essay. Other major changes include a return to the familiar 1,600-point scoring scale. This major overhaul arrives as the ACT has increased in popularity; administrators at the SAT seem determined to stay relevant and competitive for those millions of dollars at stake in today's hypercompetitive college admissions world.

The revamped SAT exam will concentrate on elevated vocabulary words, shifting towards those used in common vernacular rather than dusty, overly erudite words like antediluvian that no one has used in conversation since Noah's flood. Students taking the exam will have to translate the meaning of words and phrases according to the context of the passage in which they are included. This can be challenging but important work, as it parallels use students can expect during the course of their lives from high school to college and beyond. Assisting teens to get better at breaking down and successfully analyzing pertinent vocabulary will transform the way they get ready for this important exam.

When students start taking the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and Essay portions of the newly designed SAT, they will be be required to show their potential to translate, synthesize, and make use of evidence identified in a number of resources. These will consist of informative graphics and multiparagraph segments taken from literary works and other literary nonfiction; excerpts in the history, science, and humanities; as well as passages from social studies and career-related sources.

For each passage students read from the SAT Critical Reading Test, there will be at least one question asking them to choose a quote within the text that can support the answer they chose in response to the previous question. Some will be combined with educational graphics, and students will be requested to incorporate the details presented through each so they can present the best answer possible.

The Writing section is going away--sort of, as it is being combined with Critical Reading to make one hybrid section: Evidence-Based Reading, Writing, and Language Test. There also will be no mandatory essay--it becomes optional.

So, what does this mean in terms of scoring? The new test has a perfect score of 1,600. The Critical Reading and Writing sections will be combined, for a total weight of 800 points out of 1,600, not 1,600 out of 2,400. Math will comprise 50% of the overall score, not one-third.

This 17% increase in emphasis on the math requirement for the overall score will not be great news for many students whose strength lies in their English and humanities skill sets. This does, however, bode well for math geniuses and many...