How to deal with the reforms in the 2016 SAT exam?

1. Adjustment of test structure

1.1 Redistribution of test parts

The reformed SAT will be divided into three parts: reading, grammar, mathematics, article. The reading, grammar and mathematics sections are each given a score range of 200-800, and the essays are not scored. Therefore, the new SAT has returned to the 1600-point scale of 10 years ago, with a range of 400-1600. It is expected that the top ten schools in the United States will require SAT scores of 1450 or above.

The author took the exam many times in Hong Kong and the United States. Among the 7 exams, 5 times I felt hungry or wanted to go to the toilet midway, which affected my performance to a greater or lesser extent. If the SAT exam is changed back to 1600 points, the time will be greatly shortened. Candidates will no longer complain about the difficulty of going to the toilet in the "mass grave" in Hong Kong and the too cold air conditioner, and they will also be less likely to be affected by hunger during the exam.

If the computer-based test is implemented, there will be a complete shuffle of question types. Of course, there will be a large number of "machine-based exams", so we speculate that the College Board will continue to implement written exams in areas with a lot of cheating. When the GRE was administered globally as a computer-based test, there was a period when the paper-based test was only administered to mainland China. This also has an advantage. As we all know, Asian SAT questions often repeat American test questions. In this way, the computer-based test and the written test are separated, and the questions are generated from the American SAT database. It will become more difficult to cheat due to the time difference and previous years' questions, and truly capable candidates can easily stand out. Many of our students have obtained full marks in reading in the past few exams. Their common characteristics are that strength is king, they read a lot, and they have a wide range of interests.

1.2 Fact-based reading comprehension and writing test

The reading part of the previous SAT was called "Critical Reading", which tested students' critical reading ability. The reformed SAT reading section is called the "Evidence Based Reading and Writing Section", which combines the reading and grammar sections into one. Candidates not only need to read and answer questions quickly, but also need to find errors in the article and rewrite it. Show the correct usage. For Chinese students, this way of solving questions seems to have become more difficult because of the addition of error correction. However, in fact, the appearance of data such as tables and charts can actually help students understand the article, thereby reducing the difficulty of reading. The extra correction section is similar to the paragraph correction questions in the original grammar section.

The author revisited the last major reform of the SAT: In the 2005 SAT reform, the examination of reading comprehension articles did not change much, but in this reform, the reference to reading comprehension has changed Variations, such as fact-based reading comprehension. Students are required to demonstrate their ability to understand, synthesize, analyze, interpret and use information from a wide range of sources. In addition to the traditional text form, these materials and information will also include charts and graphs. In addition to understanding and answering questions through traditional reading comprehension and analysis, students also need to analyze information provided in the form of charts and other forms and answer questions.

This change in examinations also needs to be understood from a broader perspective. The GMAT exam underwent changes in June 2012, the most important being the introduction of Integrated Reasoning. This type of question tests students' ability to comprehensively understand and analyze materials and information sources from different sources through text descriptions, chart displays, etc. For example, the text description describes the different strategies that people face when booking several hotels in the conference and exhibition area, and the chart gives the pricing plans of different hotels. Students are asked to synthesize the two information and analyze hotel booking strategies and purchase payments. Cost comparison.

Such changes are a high-level examination of critical thinking ability. Through the flexible and diverse presentation of questions, students' differentiation is more obvious.

1.3 Writing creation based on a piece of reading material

Regarding the biggest change in SAT writing, the most popular discussion at present is that the writing part will be an optional part, and students can optionally participate.

From the addition of the essay section in 2005 to the selection of the essay section as an optional test in 2016, this change reflects the impact of the ACT exam on the SAT exam.

However, it is important to note that parents and students should not read into this message that exams are getting easier. Because even when the top-ranked schools in the United States, about TOP20, require students to provide ACT test scores, they strongly recommend or require students to take the ACT writing section. Therefore, we expect that even if the essay part of the SAT test itself is cancelled, these top schools will definitely require students to take and submit the writing part. Moreover, the reformed SAT is just like the SSAT exam. Although the essay is optional, the essay will be extracted by the school for comparison with essays when applying. Therefore, the writing part of the new SAT cannot be underestimated.

Traditional SAT exam essays require the understanding and elaboration of a complex topic. Many students respond to various questions by reciting examples in advance. This revised SAT test will first ask students to read a piece of material, and then students need to understand and explain how the author established their own reasoning process.

This change is also a change towards the GMAT and GRE exams. In the GRE and GMAT exams, candidates will be asked to read an article first, and then find loopholes in the article to sort out and attack. It's just that in the SAT exam, students need to build their own logical arguments and use information from reading materials. This kind of writing test will further test students' thinking ability.

In the reformed SAT test, writing has become an optional test. Whether students choose the composition part does not depend on their own wishes, but on the requirements of the university, which will be reflected in the form of extra points. When writing, candidates will be required to read a passage of material in advance and then analyze how the author uses evidence, reasoning and some elements of writing style to demonstrate his or her point of view. Such reforms have gradually brought SAT writing closer to the GRE and GMAT exams, and more testing of candidates' ability to judge the original text, support and opposition of arguments, etc. has also greatly increased the difficulty of candidates' writing preparation. Candidates are required to do a lot of reading during the preparation stage to exercise their reading, analysis, and logical thinking abilities. In this way, the advantages will be reflected for those candidates who read a lot.

In this year’s undergraduate application, Xu Baoyi, an outstanding student of Times Focus Education, usually reads a lot and has a wide range of reading. During the application process, he was asked by Columbia University to write a book review . As a result, he stood out among many applicants and was successfully admitted to Columbia University. He was the only early admission candidate to Columbia University in Beijing.

The fact that writing has been reduced from a compulsory subject to an optional subject does not mean that the writing test is invalidated. When reading and math scores are similar, applicants who can provide writing test scores will undoubtedly increase their chances of being successfully admitted to American universities. Regarding writing, Chinese students should give up speculative ideas and not reduce their preparation for writing just because the new SAT test makes writing an optional item. Because if you give up the writing part, it shows a lack of confidence; and if a candidate takes the writing test, if there is a big difference between the writing part and the university application document (the main document of the common application), the school will think that they are suspected of ghostwriting. . When preparing for the exam, you should still prepare for writing as a required subject for the SAT. You must solidly improve your grammar, vocabulary, analysis and reasoning skills, and work hard to develop your critical thinking skills.

Looking at the SAT reform, it is actually disadvantageous for Chinese candidates. In previous SAT exams, although the writing part was also scored separately, it was combined with the grammar part that Chinese candidates are good at to look at the total score of the writing part, rather than being separated out separately. In the SAT exam after the reform, the writing part has been separated, its importance has been magnified, and the difficulty has increased, so candidates need to pay more attention to it. It seems that it is not included in the total score, but it becomes particularly conspicuous because of the elimination of grammar questions.

1.4. No points will be deducted for choosing the wrong option

In the current SAT exam, a quarter of a point will be deducted for wrongly answering a question, but no points will be deducted for not answering the question. point. The new grading rules will no longer deduct points for wrong questions.

Candidates are therefore encouraged to answer every question.

1.5 The new version of SAT may use computer-based testing

The new version of SAT will use computer-based testing in some test centers. Computer-based exams will make it more convenient for students to take exams, and will also make it possible for the test questions to be leaked.