The SAT college-entrance exam will be shorter and is going digital, the College Board announced Tuesday.
The paper test currently takes roughly three hours to complete but the digital version will be cut down to about two hours with more time given in between questions, a news release states.
“The digital SAT will be easier to take, easier to give, and more relevant,” said Priscilla Rodriguez, vice president of College Readiness Assessments at the College Board.
The College Board, which administers the SAT, PSAT and other college-entrance exams, announced a number of other changes to the test.
The digital exam will feature shorter reading passages with one question tied to each. The passages will also “reflect a wider range of topics that represent the works students read in college,” the board wrote in its press release.
Students will also be allowed to use calculators on the entire math section and scores will be received in days, instead of weeks.
The board said it began experimenting with digital SAT exams in the United States and internationally in November. Roughly 80 percent of students said they would prefer an online exam because it is less stressful. Educators also said they had a positive experience with the tests being administered online.
The test will still measure what knowledge and skills students learned in high school and will still be scored on a 1600 scale.
Students, however, will not be able to take the exams at home. The tests will be administered in a school or in a test center with a proctor present.
“We’re not simply putting the current SAT on a digital platform—we’re taking full advantage of what delivering an assessment digitally makes possible,” Rodriguez said. “With input from educators and students, we are adapting to ensure we continue to meet their evolving needs.”
The SAT will be delivered digitally internationally beginning in 2023 and in the U.S. in 2024
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
