“The SAT is a psychological test designed primarily to assess aptitude for learning rather than mastery of subjects already learned, and to assess ability independently of any school curriculum.”
“The SAT must reflect the kinds of meaningful, engaging, rigorous work that students undertake in the best high school courses being taught today, thereby creating a robust and durable bond between assessment and instruction.”
Evolution of the SAT
1926
2016
Aptitude/IQ Test
Achievement or Knowledge Test
Vocabulary Emphasis
Reading Emphasis
No Writing
Writing
4 answer choices per question
“Rights-only” scoring
Old SAT Score will NOT equal New SAT Score. Concordance Table to be published after March 2016
[. . .] The transportation planner’s job might involve conducting a traffic count to determine the daily number of vehicles traveling on the road to the new factory. If analysis of the traffic count indicates that there is more traffic than the current road as it is designed at this time can efficiently accommodate, the transportation planner might recommend widening the road to add another lane. [. . .]
3. A) NO CHANGE
B) current design of the road right now
C) road as it is now currently designed
D) current design of the road
3
Evidence-Based Writing & Language
6. Which choice completes the sentence with accurate data based on the above graph?
NO CHANGE
warning, however, that job growth in urban and regional planning will slow to 14 percent by 2020.
predicting that employment of urban and regional planners will increase 16 percent between 2010 and 2020.
indicating that 14 to 18 percent of urban and regional planning positions will remain unfilled.
. . . Transportation planners perform critical work within the broader field of urban and regional planning. As of 2010, there were approximately 40,300 urban and regional planners employed in the United States. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts steady job growth in this field, projecting that 16 percent of new jobs in all occupations will be related to urban and regional planning. Population growth and concerns about environmental sustainability are expected to spur the need for transportation planning professionals.
Adapted from United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections Program.
…The nature of impeachment: a narrowly channeled exception to the separation of powers maxim. The Federal Convention of 1787 said that. It limited impeachment to high crimes and misdemeanors, and discounted and opposed the term “maladministration.”…
Aaron is staying at a hotel that charges $99.95 per night plus tax for a room. A tax of 8% is applied to the room rate, and an additional one-time untaxed fee of $5.00 is charged by the hotel. Which of the following represents Aaron’s total charge, in dollars, for staying x nights?
(99.95 + 0.08x) + 5
1.08(99.95x) + 5
1.08(99.95x + 5)
1.08(99.95 + 5)x
Major emphasis on linear equations and inequalities
Mathematics Test
SAMPLE
An international bank issues its Traveler credit cards worldwide. When a customer makes a purchase using a Traveler card in a currency different from the customer’s home currency, the bank converts the purchase price at the daily foreign exchange rate and then charges a 4% fee on the converted cost. Sara lives in the United States, but is on vacation in India. She used her Traveler card for a purchase that cost 602 rupees (Indian currency). The bank posted a charge of $9.88 to her account that included the 4% fee.
Part 1
What foreign exchange rate, in Indian rupees per one U.S. dollar, did the bank use for Sara’s charge? Round your answer to the nearest whole number.
Part 2
A bank in India sells a prepaid credit card worth 7,500 rupees. Sara can buy the prepaid card using dollars at the daily exchange rate with no fee, but she will lose any money left unspent on the prepaid card. What is the least number of the 7,500 rupees on the prepaid card Sara must spend for the prepaid card to be cheaper than charging all her purchases on the Traveler card? Round your answer to the nearest whole number of rupees.
Rates students on strength of analysis and coherence of writing
Two readers will score each essay from 1-4 in three areas: Reading, Analysis, and Writing*
*Above scoring is provisional, pending research
50 Minutes
1 Common Prompt
Optional
The Essay Test
As you read the passage below, consider how Dana Gioia uses:
evidence, such as facts or examples, to support claims.
reasoning to develop ideas and to connect claims and evidence.
stylistic or persuasive elements, such as word choice or appeals to emotion, to add power to the ideas expressed.
[High Quality Source Text Here – 650-750 Words]
Write an essay in which you explain how Dana Gioia builds an argument to persuade his audience that the decline of reading in America will have a negative effect on society. In your essay, analyze how Gioia uses one or more of the features listed in the box above (or features of your own choice) to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of his argument. Be sure that your analysis focuses on the most relevant features of the passage.
Your essay should not explain whether you agree with Gioia’s claims, but rather explain how Gioia builds an argument to persuade his audience.