PITTSBURGH (PTTP)- March 9 marked the first fully digital SAT exam in the United States. First launched in March of last year for international students, the new exam was administered through the College Board’s Bluebook app.
The exam was permitted on laptops and some tablets paired with an external keyboard, but not mobile phones. Students without access to a device can loan one from the College Board if requested in advance. The Bluebook app also offers practice tests for the SAT and AP Exams.
One difference from the paper exam is that it is now about an hour shorter- taking about 2 hours. It also makes less work for testing administrators and a more secure test, as administrators used to pack and sort the paper tests. The new Bluebook app even offers a built-in graphing calculator. And a calculator can now be used for the entire math portion.
The digital format offers a completely individualized test for students, making the sharing of test questions obsolete. This individualization is a cause of concern for some. The new digital SAT adapts to student performance. Questions in the 2nd module become either harder or easier based on answer accuracy.
Some question how a standardized test can be adaptive, asking if it can establish a fair and equal baseline anymore. College Board’s blog reads: “…you won’t get a lower score just because you saw a lower difficulty set of questions.” However, the College Board also maintains that: “…every test form goes through an equating process to ensure that scores are comparable and interchangeable across forms.”
The SAT was once an essential component of American college applications, but many institutions have gone test-optional in recent years.
Credit: CBS News