The SAT should not be going digital
CollegeBoard has made an unfathomably weird decision.
The SAT is going fully digital in spring 2024, which means they will no longer offer pencil & paper testing. Let's discuss why I think the digital SAT is a bad decision.
My classmates took the PSAT this Wednesday.[1] My school wanted students to start testing at 9am. Unfortunately, the majority of students weren't able to begin testing until 10:30am.
CollegeBoard administers its computer exams through Bluebook, a lockdown testing application that can be downloaded on Mac, Windows, or a school-managed Chromebook. Except Bluebook failed horribly for most students at my school, because of various technology issues, including: software misconfigurations, account logins, and time-tracking software[2] on our school devices.
The main issue I have with any computer-administered test is that stuff can stop working at any time for reasons that sometimes make no sense. Here's a list of possible issues with computer-administered tests:
- Internet connectivity (what happens if the internet goes down?)
- Hardware (what if the computer or mouse stops working?)
- Power (what if the computer runs out of battery?)
- Software failure (what happens if the computer starts bluescreening?)
- Hacking (what if a student tries to hack Bluebook?)
I can think of one issue with a classic paper & pencil test:
- Students might be able to cheat if they have the same test
But even that is mitigated with CollegeBoard using different forms for each testing room. I want to reiterate that a piece of paper cannot be hacked, nor does it ever run out of power, nor does it need an internet connection, nor does it require minimum hardware/software requirements. Paper already works. Why is CollegeBoard trying to reinvent the paper?
It makes them more money. CollegeBoard is a "nonprofit" that is very profitable and it totally makes financial sense for them to switch to the digital SAT. It's cheaper!
Also, the new digital SAT is adaptive, lasts only two hours, and has changed the format of the reading section. So you can throw all your old SAT test prep books out the window and buy new ones because CollegeBoard decided to arbitrarily change the testing format.
The switch from paper to digital is not the only thing that bugs me. Because CollegeBoard is changing the way the SAT is administrated, they can also change the test content and layout without causing too much of a stir. There are two key changes I do not like:
- The reading sections changed from 4 long passages and 1 comparison passage (each with ~10-11 questions per passage) to 54 short passages with one question per passage. Thus the SAT no longer tests on inferences or overall themes and understanding of a longer passage. These are skills that are valuable in the real world[3]. Why would CollegeBoard lower the standard?
- A calculator is allowed for the entire math section on the digital SAT, but only in one section of the paper SAT. This means that proficiency with doing quick, basic arithmetic is no longer necessary to score well on the Math section. I strongly believe we, as a society, should be able to quickly come up with the answers to simple calculations like
20 x 18and53 + 67without using a calculator. The digital SAT does not encourage students to obtain that proficiency.
I am personally glad that I took the paper SAT before having to go digital. I'm interested to see ultimately how successful the rollout of the digital SAT goes.