SAT will go from paper and pencil to digital testing by 2024 By Jordon Conestabile
The SAT testing format is scheduled to go digital by 2024. The format is expected to increase accessibility to students who have been negatively affected by the COVID pandemic. All U.S. students will begin the digital testing format by March of 2024. The new format is designed to be unique to each student which will increase test security, while more accurately reflecting each student’s individual performance.
Notable changes to the testing format: the digital test is shorter in length, providing students with more time per question. The new format features shorter reading passages and passages reflecting a wider range of materials that are read at the college level. Students will be able to see their test result in days, instead of waiting weeks for their results.
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Pricilla Rodriguez, Vice President of College Readiness Assessments for The College Board, said the test now offers a “more approachable and less stressful experience” for students and educators. Students who participated in the November global pilot of the digital SAT said that test experience was less stressful than the current paper and pencil test.
Students will be able to use their own devices, including laptop and tablets during the exam. Additionally, students will benefit from the new digital format as they will be now be able to take the exam at their current home school during regular school hours.
Students will no longer be required to take exam at a predetermined time and location, reducing the expense of travel, while increasing accessibility for minority and low-income students. In recent years the SAT has come under increasing criticism from those who say that standardized tests handicap poor and minority students.
Jordon Conestabile is a Political Science student at Utica University
