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Teachers React to SAT Changes

Teachers React to SAT Changes

The College Board announced changes to the SAT, which will go into effect in 2016, on Wed. March 5, citing a disconnect between school curriculum and the content of the exam. It will be split into three sections with an optional essay portion and will go back to a 1600 scale instead of the current 2400.

Julie Heller, head of the English Department, supports the changes being enacted.

“It makes sense that he [the President of College Board] would try to bridge the gap between high school expectations and college entrance expectations,” she said.

As part of the changes to the exam, the vocabulary section is being edited to include words frequently used in college, which Heller explains “just makes sense.”

The math section will be changed to assess three areas: problem solving and data analysis, the heart of algebra, and passport to advanced math. Math teacher John Wetzel saw more value in the old format of the SAT because “it focused on patterns and reasoning in conjunction with math content,” he said.

Heller explained that altering the exam to study and analyze content in a real world context correlates with the Westport 2025 initiative.

“[Westport 2025] helps students develop their thinking skills (critical, creative, and global) in connection with real-world situations, so…this stresses the importance of our efforts,” she said.

Wetzel also pointed out that Westport’s curriculum fits well with the new content.  “The new SAT is more aligned with basic ‘study-able’ curriculum as opposed to thinking non-routinely, so I envision little impact on curriculum or teaching at Staples,” he said.

Science teacher Cecilia Duffy suggested that the College Board change to adopt the science section like the ACT, as the changes being made are making the tests more similar.

“I’m still upset that there is not science component to the SAT like the ACT. I think that’s part of the whole problem,” Duffy said.

Perhaps the most significant change is to the scoring of the test; there will no longer be a penalty for guessing. Heller sees this as “the glass half-full.”

“It’s always better to show what a student knows and can do rather than highlight what he doesn’t know or can’t do,” she said.

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Greta Bjornson, News Editor
After three years of writing for Inklings, Greta Bjornson ’15 is news page editor, and has a passion for creative writing and protecting the environment. Her favorite types of articles to write are feature articles, and although she admits to not being the “loudest person in class,” her writing lets her express her wit, especially in her column Pumpkin gone wrong: the worst pumpkin foods. Outside of Inklings, she does all that she can to make a difference in the world since she knows that the environment is facing many problems right now. “My family gets really annoyed with me because I am crazy about recycling,” Bjornson said. She even admits to taking plastic items out of the trash when placed in the wrong bin. She is mainly interested in marine biology, and since she is certified in scuba diving she has done a volunteer trip to rebuild a coral reef off of Key West, Florida. Becoming a marine biologist is very important to Bjornson, but she also would like to write for a magazine when she grows up. “With whatever I end up doing, I just want to make a difference some way,” Bjornson said. With her drive to improve the world’s conflict, she is going to be a news editor who will always be dedicated to her work.  

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