College entrance exam may be revised

Associated Press

BERKELEY, Calif. — In a move that could affect high school seniors nationwide, the head of the College Board is proposing major changes to the SAT I exam in an effort to hold on to its biggest client, the University of California.

Possible revisions include adding a writing test, dropping or reducing the analogy questions and toughening up the math section, which in its present form does not require students to have taken advanced courses such as Algebra II.

"I think it’s an important step," College Board president Gaston Caperton said Saturday.

College Board trustees this week authorized Caperton and his staff to explore the changes with College Board membership, which includes schools, colleges and universities. Recommended changes would go back to trustees for a vote in June and would go into effect no earlier than 2006.

The proposed overhaul comes just over a year after UC president Richard Atkinson startled academia with a call for the university to drop the SAT I, the two-part verbal and math test taken by about 2 million students each year.

"There is no doubt that the conversation opened by Dr. Atkinson … spurred the College Board and the academic community to think faster than they usually do," said Chiara Coletti, the College Board’s vice president of public affairs.

In the UC system, officials greeted the proposed revisions with cautious approval.

"The history of the SAT has been one of fairly constant change, and the crux of president Atkinson’s initial proposal was that it was a test that no longer served our present needs," said UC spokesman Michael Reese. "It appears at this juncture that the College Board has seen the wisdom of that argument."

In calling for an end to the SAT I, Atkinson said students were wasting time and money prepping for the test, which has come under fire as unfair to some students.

Caperton said there is nothing wrong with the current test, but that the board was considering whether the changes would make it better.

"When you’re the best, the only way you stay the best is continuing improving what you’re doing. That’s our goal," he said.

SAT supporters say the test helps them identify students who may have benefited from grade inflation.

Critics have attacked the SAT as culturally or gender-biased, mainly because white males tend to do better than most other groups. Test supporters contend the problem lies in an unfair public education system, not in the test.

With about 170,000 students on its nine campuses, UC is the largest user of the SAT I, although it also accepts the ACT. It also requires students to take two SAT II tests. The SAT II, a lesser-known exam, is a series of tests on specific subjects such as history or Spanish. The SAT I tries to test reasoning skills.