Do you remember when the sport of gymnastics changed its scoring in 2006? Gone were the days when Nadia Comaneci’s perfect score of 10 was easily comprehensible. In its place, the gymnastics world established complex scoring formulas, which require a degree in statistics to interpret. The sport of gymnastics wanted to make achieving perfection a pursuit, more challenging for the gymnast. This transition, though, made watching gymnastics a lot less accessible to the general public.
So too is the case with the redesigned SAT, set to launch next month. The College Board, which administers the test, has made its scoring more complex and more difficult to interpret. I contend that the scoring is also unfairly misleading.
The PSAT, administered this past October, follows the new scoring format, and since the release of PSAT scores last month, the College Board has been riddled with criticisms about the percentiles it assessed to its 2015 PSAT test takers.
New this year, the College Board arbitrarily inflated PSAT percentiles by using a Nationally Representative Sample percentile, which shows how a student’s score compares to all United States students in a particular grade, “including those who don’t typically take the test.” In other words, the percentile takes into account students with no intention of attending college. This score is in contrast to previously issued percentiles that reflected performance in relationship only to other test-takers. High schools across the country are reporting higher numbers of students earning a 99th percentile score on the 2015 PSAT. Moreover, on reports downloaded last month, the College Board shared only this misleading higher percentile. These higher percentiles suggest to students that they have earned a more competitive standing than is accurate.
Why does this matter? In my opinion, the College Board, which has lost significant market share to its competitor, the ACT, is masking students’ true performance and luring them into signing up for the SAT. Let me explain the set-up:
The redesigned SAT scoring is quite complex and confusing:
· The College Board has returned to the old scale, 400 to 1600 with just two sections (1) Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and (2) Math, but the PSAT is oddly scored from 320 to 1520.
· The SAT has three test scores (Reading, Writing and Language, and Math) and two Cross-Test Scores (Analysis in both History/Social Studies and Science), both of which are reported on a scale of 10 to 40.
· Then, the SAT has 7 Subscores (Command of Evidence, Words in Context, Expression of Ideas, Standard English Conventions, Heart of Algebra, Problem Solving and Data Analysis, and Passport to Advanced Math), all reported on a scale of 1 to 15.
Bottom line, the scoring is completely different from the old SAT and very complicated. Accordingly, test-takers turn to the percentiles, a statistic that they mistakenly believe that they understand.
This is why the misleading percentiles are such a big deal. By issuing inflated percentiles on the PSAT, the College Board is no doubt luring students into taking the redesigned SAT under false hope. Students anticipate that their projected score will be very competitive for the selective colleges they are considering. The reality may be, though, that their performance will be far inferior to their expectations. Some may not even realize their error until they are rejected from their dream college.
Do not go into the March SAT only to be blind-sided by the hidden facts. Either stick with the ACT to avoid the smoke and mirrors, or seek professional advice.