How the New SAT essays are
read
Nearly 1.4 million students have taken
the New SAT tests in March, May and June 2005.
Each essay was read, scored, and reported by two
different professional readers, all high school
or college teachers, under stringent
requirements. Ninety-five percent of the essays
were read, scored, and reported within the 16-day
scoring window as expected.
College Board Vice President Jim Montoya stressed
that readers are trained to score essays
"holistically"; that is, they evaluate
essays not by adding up (or taking off) points
for organization, development, sentence
structure, vocabulary, etc., but by judging the
overall impression created by all of the elements
of writing working together in an essay. "In
that way, readers are able to evaluate very
different types of essays with equal
fairness," Montoya said. "Any essay
that effectively blends insightful development, a
smooth progression of ideas, and the skillful use
of language will score very well, regardless of
the approach the writer takes."
"The new SAT goes further than the old one
in focusing on the twenty-first-century skills
required for success in a more global
economy," said Gaston Caperton, president of
the College Board. "The more advanced math,
the greater focus on reading, and the new
emphasis on writing will help promote the mastery
of skills that our young people will need as we
face increasing competition from other nations,
including rapidly emerging ones. Developed
reasoning skills and advanced literacy skills in
both reading and writing are essential in a world
that is becoming increasingly interconnected and
digital."
Math and critical reading score means (537 and
519) for the spring 2005 administrations are
consistent with SAT math and verbal means during
the spring administrations from the past five
years (533 and 519). The writing mean is slightly
below the reading mean for this group of students
(516 vs. 519). No historical data are available
for the new writing test and no comparison can be
made with past results. Thorough analyses of
performance on the new SAT cannot be accomplished
until August 2006, when the average scores for
the first cohort of students who has taken the
new SAT will be reported.
Source: College Board, September 2005 |