Isabella Montenegro
Opinion Editor
In the next two years, the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT, will transition to a digital platform. In the 21st century, the digital age, having the SAT online will accommodate students’ needs in a way that is both beneficial and constructive.
According to the College Board, the SAT will be taken digitally beginning in 2023 for international students, and in 2024 for students living in the United States. The current version of the SAT is three-hours long, though with the new version, will be shortened to only two hours in length. The test will still be administered at a testing site, with the difference that the test will be taken on a computer, rather than on a physical booklet. The exam will have shortened passages and the ability to use a calculator on all math sections.
According to Harvard Education, high-stakes testing, such as taking the SAT, creates higher than normal stress on students. According to Kansas KVC Organization, research has shown that academic stress can lead to poor wellbeing, and a higher likelihood of developing depression and anxiety. The pressure students put themselves under to perform well on standardized exams can be unnecessary. Therefore, a shortened version of the SAT will be beneficial because it may decrease the pressure students put on themselves to know such a large amount of material, and will likely also reduce the rate of test burnout.
According to the L.A. Times, the SAT is seen as an exam that is a gatekeeper in the college application process. The digital version will allow for more flexible test taking times, as the tests do not need to be given at the same time to prevent the sharing of information. In the future, about 60% of students who choose to take the digital version can take the exam during school hours. This eliminates the struggle of taking the exam at a different testing site most likely on a weekend.
According to CNBC, this new and improved version of the SAT can increase the difficulty of cheating, helping schools receive a true and honest score from students. The College Board states that over the years, students have all been given the same paper version of the test each test day. In the case that cheating occurred, the administration was forced to disregard the whole group’s tests. Each online version of the SAT will be unique to each student who takes it in the same test period, preventing students from being able to copy answers effectively, and preventing students who get caught cheating from affecting the entire group.
On the other hand, taking this test digitally can be seen as a disadvantage for some. According to Prep Maven, annotating on SAT’s reading passages is extremely crucial when it comes to comprehension and citing evidence for answers. However, when the switch occurs from paper to digital, many will oppose it, due to not being able to mark helpful notes on their test booklet. While this may be true, students will still have an opportunity to annotate digitally and, in addition, passages will be shortened for students to answer adequately and efficiently.
The implementation of the digital version of the SAT will be beneficial to the students who are taking the exam in 2024 as its length has decreased and it will be more accessible.
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