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WHAT SOME EDUCATORS ARE SAYING ABOUT
THE NEW SAT
As former dean of admissions at MIT and now vice
president at the University of Chicago where we have a calculus requirement,
I am especially glad to see a higher level of preparation expected for
success in taking the SAT I math. Taking algebra in high school has been
shown to be a strong predictor of whether a student will enter college, and
developing strong quantitative reasoning is important for success in more and
more professions.
Michael
C. Behnke
Vice
President, Dean of College Enrollment
University
of Chicago
It is important that we let students know early
about our writing expectations so they can prepare for this change. Also,
this writing requirement sends a critical message to K-12
teachers—those who teach writing every day preparing children for
college—that their work is extremely important. I fully expect that
other major universities in Texas
and beyond also will adopt the writing test as a part of their admissions
standards.
Bruce
Walker
Associate
Vice Provost and Director of Admissions
University
of Texas at Austin
Many of us hoped that a writing requirement would
be a part of the SAT when the SAT I was developed in 1990. Unfortunately, it
was put into the SAT II portion which relatively few students take. After
thirteen years, it is good to see that a writing test will be a part of the
SAT, for it will send an important message to the nation that writing is
important for all students going on to college.
John A.
Blackburn
Dean of
Admission
University
of Virginia
The new SAT will be a better yardstick of what
people here have accomplished. . . . The symbolic importance of stressing
writing on the SAT is critical. I think it will lead to real reform.
William
R. Fitzsimmons
Dean of
Admissions and Financial Aid
Harvard
University
The writing component sends a loud and clear
message that strong writing is essential to success in college and beyond.
Linda
Clement
Vice
President for Student Affairs
University
of Maryland: College
Park
Source: The College Board, 2004.
TODAY
February 27, 2004
New SAT with writing test to start from May next year
Next January will be the last time
that Singaporean students will be taking the old Scholastic Assessment Test
(SAT). From May next year, the new SAT, which has an additional writing
section, will be administered globally.
And the majority of American universities will base their admissions for the
2006 autumn intake on the new format, said an official from the United
States Education
Information Center
yesterday.
An announcement will be made here this weekend about how local universities
may respond to the change, among other possible adjustments to their
admission policies. But it is unlikely that the change will be as sudden as
in America.
"At the moment, we are not phasing out anything. The old SAT has a
certain shelf life and it's not fair to students who have sat for it,"
said Associate Professor Yeoh Hock Hin, dean of the office of admissions at
the National University of Singapore. "We should treat the old SAT as
equivalent to the new SAT for admission to universities," he said.
SAT scores generally can be used for admission to American universities up to
five years after the test is taken. With the transition, said USEIC director
Karen Kaylor, some universities may allow a grace period for students.
It is not known if it will be up to local universities to decide when to
phase out the old SAT, but the Ministry of Education has been discussing
admissions issues with them this week.
The new SAT will have a maximum score of 2,400, up by 800, as a result of the
new essay component where students have to "take a stand on one issue,
commit to it and write a convincing argument", she said in an update of
the US admission process.
The addition of this third section and the removal of questions on analogies
to make the SAT a better test of what American students learn in high school
has led some here to wonder if it had become rather similar to the General
Paper (GP) at A levels. However, some students were worried that the essay
and the introduction of more advanced concepts in the maths section would
make the SAT more difficult.
At Temasek
Junior College,
first-year students were told that if they prepared well for the GP, they
would be better able to cope with the new SAT. "But if they are fearful,
we tell them they can take the old SAT this November," said its subject
head of career, Mr Tony Tan.
That is what Hung Hui Xian, 16, is likely to do. "If my results are not
good, then I'll take the test again next year," she said. But for most
first-year JC students, who will collect their O-level results today, it is
still a tad too early to start thinking about the SAT. — Derrick A
Paulo
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