Anyone who took the SAT this weekend was surely scarred for the rest of their lives by the math section and probably doesn’t ever want to think about it again, but because the involvement of technology in education is on the rise, TecBridge wants take a deep dive into the scoring and future considerations for the SAT, and consider how it will affect generations to come.
Scoring
One major question that many people had when taking the test is that, will colleges see any differences in the DSAT versus the paper SAT? Short answer, no, because CollegeBoard has verified that the digital sat scoring corresponds exactly to the paper SAT scoring. So, getting a 1550 on the SAT should be just as easy as getting on the DSAT. But, it is important to consider that throughout the past two decades, CollegeBoard has ramped up the difficulty of standardized tests every time a new one has been introduced to students, so there’s a good chance that many people struggled. Not that this can improve the curve, of course. Technically, the SAT has no curve, but the amount of questions that students can get wrong and still get a certain score tends to vary by difficulty of the test.
Algorithm
If you are unfamiliar with the test format, it is important to note that the DSAT is an adaptive test from section to section, so the questions for the second module of SAT reading and math will be determined by the performance of a student in the first module. The actual formula for how question difficulty is determined on the second module has not been disclosed by CollegeBoard, but it is generally known that the DSAT is meant to more precisely measure a student’s ability. Refer to the chart to understand more about how scoring works.
Conclusion & Future Considerations
The advent of technology has consistently transformed all modes of education and the introduction of digital CollegeBoard exams only reinforces this idea on a massive scale. It is up to debate whether a digital platform for testing is actually better for students, but one positive aspect is that it is more efficient, which is the goal of all technology.
All in all, we wish you the best of luck with all standardized testing, digital or otherwise!
Sources:
Ricky, Hazel. “The Digital Sat Scoring Algorithm: A Comprehensive Guide.” EdisonOS, 14 June 2023, www.edisonos.com/blog/the-digital-sat-scoring-algorithm-a-comprehensive-guide.
“How Will Students Practice for the Digital Sat?” How Will Students Practice for the Digital SAT? – SAT Suite | College Board, satsuite.collegeboard.org/help-center/how-will-students-practice-digital-sat. Accessed 10 Mar. 2024.
McLain-Midkiff, Kelcie. “Digital Sat vs Paper Sat.” Test Innovators, 28 July 2023, testinnovators.com/blog/digital-sat-vs-paper-sat/.
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