Standardized Tests Like the SAT Are Being Made Easier for Struggling Students
“The way adaptive testing was implemented in the new SAT, though, caused eye-popping ripple effects—for those who were looking, that is.”
I’d be willing to bet this is directly related to the closing of schools during the pandemic.
Reading passages on the SAT have been shortened from 500-750 words down to 25-150.
They say “the eliminated reading passages are ‘not an essential prerequisite for college’ and that the new, shorter content helps ‘students who might have struggled to connect with the subject… pic.twitter.com/IB7xjMenVj
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) June 21, 2025
From the James G. Martin Center:
The SAT’s Trust Fall
As the policy director for the Classic Learning Test (CLT), I’ve had dozens of conversations with lawmakers across the country about college entrance exams over the last year. Surprisingly, the topic that has drawn the most intense scrutiny has not been the CLT: It’s been changes made to the SAT in 2024 (and similar changes to the ACT being implemented right now).
First, most lawmakers are surprised to learn that the tests change at all. They are then flabbergasted to learn what the most recent changes to the SAT were.
The most noticeable changes were to the structure of the exam. The paper exam was scrapped, and in its place the College Board implemented a computer-based test that is adaptive, meaning students are served easier or harder questions in later portions of each section based on their early performance.
But while these changes were noticeable, they were not the most noteworthy. Many state exams are adaptive, and adaptive testing has been studied by psychometricians for decades. The way adaptive testing was implemented in the new SAT, though, caused eye-popping ripple effects—for those who were looking, that is.
The College Board notes on page 13 of its Digital SAT Suite of Assessments technical framework that two of the primary goals in changing the exam were to make it shorter and to give students more time per question. To make this happen in the new “Reading and Writing” section of the test, they shortened reading passages from 500-750 words all the way down to 25-150 words, or the length of a social-media post, with one question per passage. Their explanation is that this model “operates more efficiently when choices about what test content to deliver are made in small rather than larger units.”
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Comments
Idiocracy…
Remember, the purpose of the SAT is not to indicate how well students are prepared for college. It is to sell the SAT.
Same goes for the ACT. They have to keep those fees rolling in somehow.
They are going to illegitimize the test to the point of extinction…just like college.
They are a dual client business. It needs to be useful to consumers and evaluators.
“Their explanation is that this model [short passage, one question per passage] “operates more efficiently when choices about what test content to deliver are made in small rather than larger units.””
But don’t let this carefully worded answer fool you. Maybe choices internally are being made in small units. But the chunks that change between the easy and hard test are huge. There are only two chunks and two parts of the test.
You take the first part. It classifies you as strong or weak. Then you get either the difficult or the easy second part. That’s it! And how do they calibrate scores between the easy and hard sections? Should a weak performer do what we chessplayers call the “Swiss gambit” (named after the Swiss system of chess tournament pairings where you are paired against opponents doing about as well as you are) and do poorly on the early part to get easier challenges on the second part? Or is it disaster to get the easy second half and you need to be above the cut?
And furthermore, lemme guess that on the “easy” second part, DEI is prevalent on a section that the strong students will never see, so as to raise up the scores of “disadvantaged” groups. Cultural content will not favor straight white males.
“Welcome, QARLO CLOBREGNNY. You have five hours to finish this exam.”
More dumbing down.
If its not standardized it is useless?
Always ask your surgeon if they were given an extra half hour on exams in med school. To be more stealthy, ask them what they did between first and second years. If they say 3 months in Europe, good to go. If they say they were in classes, run!
Needy test takers seeking a medical doctor license can get extra time to take their exam.
https://www.usmle.org/what-to-know/test-accommodations
Once the test taker is licensed, who will know they needed extra time?