SAT score trends (Comment)

The Official SAT Study Guide is the standard book for SAT preparation, and is used in many courses to supplement their material. Typically, the line of reasoning goes as follows: we will use The Official SAT Study Guide since it features real tests. Well, this is not technically true.

The Official SAT Study Guide is the latest in a long line of books published by the College Board. There was Real SATs, then came 8 Real SATs, and then 10 Real SATs (multiple editions). Each of these did contain real SATs. For example, the last edition of 10 Real SATs contained 10 SATs from 1997 through 2002. In fact, a page that featured the date of administration preceded each SAT in the book.

Now, we have The Official SAT Study Guide, which was published in November 2004. It was published in order to assist students prepare for the New SAT, but the New SAT was not offered to students until March 2005. Since The Official SAT Study Guide was published about five months before the New SAT was ever administered, the 8 tests it contains could not have been previously administered. Therefore all of these tests are not real or actual SATs.

The next logical question is whether the SATs in The Official SAT Study Guide are similar or close enough to real SATs to justify its widespread adoption and usage? To answer this question we need to know that these tests were integral to the development of the New SAT. It has been confirmed that most of these tests were used as experimental versions of the New SAT and were administered to college students on various campuses in the Northeastern region of the United States. The students' scores on these tests were compared to their actual SAT scores on the old test. Analysts at the College Board then determined how comparable these experimental versions were to the old, but actual, SATs. Although they have never published the results of their analysis, it is not unreasonable to assume that the tests which made it into The Official SAT Study Guide were the most accurate of all those tested.

In conclusion, the question of whether the tests in The Official SAT Study Guide are "real" depends on whether you trust the College Board. Many have questioned the veracity of College Board's statements throughout the years, and on more than one occasion the College Board was shown to have at least "massaged" the truth to suit their purposes, but to date no one has ever questioned the identity of the exams in the College Board's preparation books. The College Board has produced at least five books containing previously administered SATs, and none of these books have ever come under assault for containing tests that were not actually administered. Therefore, there appears to be no basis for concluding that the College Board maliciously included faulty exams in their latest book. However, the tests in The Official SAT Study Guide may still not be accurate.

As of the writing of this article, the New SAT has been administered 10 times. Hence, now we are able to determine the accuracy of the tests in The Official SAT Study Guide. Although there is no way to attain an official consensus on this question, anecdotal evidence appears to support the notion that the tests are very close to the SATs already administered. While close analysis does indicate that there are a few minor differences, these discrepancies are insufficient to recommend upsetting the widespread usage of The Official SAT Study Guide. The one discrepancy that appears time and again is that the vocabulary used in the Sentence Completion questions on the real SATs is more advanced, dare I say more esoteric, than that on the tests in The Official SAT Study Guide. Other criticisms have been leveled but none have yet to "stick". Hence, the current consensus is that while the tests in The Official SAT Study Guide are not real SATs, they have not been previously administered to high school students seeking admission to college, they are the most accurate practice tests available right now.

So has anything been definitively resolved? Is the reader any better off for having read this lengthy missive? Before you answer...

Perhaps, the reader may like to see a "real" or actual SAT. That's right, I said a REAL SAT!!!

CLICK HERE FOR THE MARCH 2005 SAT
The test I am speaking of was the first New SAT ever administered, the March 2005 SAT. It can be found at http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/prep_one/test.html

This test is not labeled as the March 2005 test, but I can guarantee that it is the same test. To get access to the test you need to register with College Board, but if you are going to take the SAT in the future, you will need to do it anyway, and it is free of cost as well. Also, you will need Adobe Acrobat to view the test, and print it out.

Now you can determine for yourself whether The Official SAT Study Guide is accurate, enjoy!