Introduction: New Content, New Format 3

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The New SAT: New Content, New Format

The SAT is designed to test critical thinking skills through practical application. What
this means is that the professionals who design the test are constantly looking for the
most realistic ways to present problems in order to mimic real-world applications and
collegiate-level curricula.

The SAT has gone through many iterations, with the most recent modification going
into effect in March of 2016. This version of the exam presents changes in both format
and content.

Technical Changes in the March 2016 SAT

• No guessing penalty
• Scored out of 1600, with only two primary section scores: “Math” and
“Evidence-Based Reading and Writing”
• Cross-sectional subscores for “Analysis of History/Social Science” and
“Analysis of Science”
• Optional 50-minute Essay section at the end of the exam

Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Section

The Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section is a total of 96 passage-based
questions, broken down into two tests: the Reading test and the Writing and Language
test. Though each test is scored on a 40-point scale, resulting in two unique test scores,
your combined performance on the two tests is used to produce the full section score
for Evidence-Based Reading and Writing. This section is evenly weighted with the Math
section, making it exactly half the weight of your final exam score. Each section is scored
on a scale of 200 to 800.

While the Reading test and Writing and Language test each have their own themes
and formats, the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section has two primary focus
areas, known as “Command of Evidence” and “Words in Context.” Questions related to
“Command of Evidence” will require students to demonstrate reading comprehension
skills and basic literary analysis to determine the relationships between passage concepts.
In contrast, questions related to “Words in Context” will require students to draw on
the thematic elements and stylistic construction of the given passage to determine
relationships between word usage.

Aside from the change in exam construction—the innovation of the Evidence-Based

Reading and Writing section—it is important to note the changes to individual question
style in this section. Fill-in-the-blank questions from the obsolete SAT Reading section
and stand-alone sentence corrections from the old SAT Writing section have been
removed completely. All questions in the SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing
section are passage-based. Questions on the Reading test require students to analyze
passage concepts and compositional elements, while questions on the Writing and
Language test will use a given passage as a baseline for critique and correction.

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 Introduction: New Content, New Format 4
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Math Section
Balancing the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section of the SAT is the Math
section. Each of these two sections is scored on a scale of 200 to 800, giving a maximum
exam score of 1600. However, where the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section
draws results from both the SAT Reading test and the SAT Writing and Language test,
the Math section draws only from the Math test. This means that the full section score is
derived from only 58 questions, given over an 80-minute period.

The Math section is broken into four different format distinctions, based on two
different timed subsections. Students are allocated 55 minutes to answer 38 questions
with a calculator. Of these, 30 questions will be multiple-choice and 8 will be grid-in
(free response). The final 20 questions of the Math test are give over 25 minutes without
use of a calculator. 15 no-calculator questions are multiple-choice, while 5 are grid-in.
The introduction of the no-calculator section is unique to SAT exams administered after
March of 2016.

Math Section Format Breakdown

With Calculator 30 multiple-choice + 8 grid-in 55 minutes

Without Calculator 15 multiple-choice + 5 grid-in 25 minutes

While the format of the exam is divided between two primary domains (calculator
and no-calculator), content coverage spans three primary disciplines, each resulting
in a subscore. The content tested in the SAT Math test spans from general algebra and
mathematical applications through advanced algebra and trigonometry. Most questions
are presented as word problems or through formatted data, as opposed to simplistic
equations to solve, and some set-ups may be used as reference material for multiple
questions. The three content domains are “Heart of Algebra,” “Problem Solving and
Data Analysis,” and “Passport to Advanced Math.” Questions that do not fall into any of
these categories do appear on the test, but are not factored into a specific subscore. Such
questions may address geometry, trigonometry, and complex numbers.

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