In a first, U.S. students will take the SAT entirely online (no pencils required)
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Pencils down. Aspiring collegians have taken the SAT exam with pencil and paper for almost a century. But today, it officially becomes all digital. This morning, students in the U.S. will take the new exam. It is an hour shorter and aims to make grading easier. But remember, kids, BJ Leiderman does the WEEKEND EDITION theme music. NPR's Elissa Nadworny reports.
ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE: This change to the SAT has been in the works for years. The pandemic, which pushed schools and students online, helped accelerate it. Today's students...
PRISCILLA RODRIGUEZ: They do a lot of their living digitally. They also do a lot of their learning digitally.
NADWORNY: Priscilla Rodriguez oversees the SAT for the College Board, the organization behind the test. She says, in focus groups, students told them they felt more confident taking tests on a digital device.
RODRIGUEZ: They were kind of telling us in so many words, you're a little behind us at this point, actually. Can you please catch up?
NADWORNY: To take this new test, students can use their own devices, including a tablet or laptop, or a school device.
SELINAM ASUO: The SAT moving to a more digital format just feels more natural for me.
NADWORNY: Selinam Asuo is a high school junior in Philadelphia, taking the SAT at a test center today. He wants to study computer science.
ASUO: Being, like, good in math, I feel like that'll boost my morale throughout that section.
NADWORNY: For the exam, he'll be using the Chromebook issued to him by his high school.
ASUO: I've been using it since my freshman year. I'm just familiar with it.
NADWORNY: He said he's happy it's an option to bring a computer he's used a ton.
ASUO: If you're given one, like, at the test center, you're just using the computer for the first time. Even if, like, you're familiar with computers, just having to use one that's loaned to you the day of - like, what if the thing crashes? Like, technology is known to, like, crash and stuff like that.
NADWORNY: To deal with crashes, the College Board has stood up a new tech support department, but the test is designed in such a way that bad internet or a device that crashes shouldn't completely disrupt your test. You need internet access to start the test, but then the test auto saves locally, so students won't lose work or time if they lose their internet connection. Sayed Nabizada a junior in Chevy Chase, Md., agrees a digital SAT makes sense.
SAYED NABIZADA: Everything now is on Google - our research, our homework, our activities and projects that we're supposed to do. Everything is now digital.
NADWORNY: The digital test embraces digital tools. There's a highlighter, a bookmark to go back to skipped questions, and a built-in graphing calculator. Sayed paid for test prep and has done a ton of practice tests, but he says it's been a long week leading up to today. Everyone at his high school has been talking about the pressure of the SAT.
NABIZADA: Each day as we get closer to SAT, our stress becomes more and more. You cannot focus if you don't know how to, like, keep yourself calm, you know?
STEPHANY PEREZ: It's a very important test. Like, it dictates what's going to happen for your college life.
NADWORNY: Stephany Perez is a high school junior from Houston who feels that pressure. She says even though about 1,800 colleges are test-optional, she's noticed many colleges still list high test scores on their admissions websites.
PEREZ: You do have to care 'cause they might still be looking at them, even if they say they're test-optional.
NADWORNY: Stephany took the new digital SAT earlier this week, part of the SAT school day. It was offered at her high school for free. She sent me this message after the test.
PEREZ: Going into the test, I was extremely nervous. I was genuinely scared. Now I feel relieved that I have one less thing to worry about.
NADWORNY: Selinam and Sayed have yet to feel that relief. But they told me they got a good night's sleep, and they're thinking positive thoughts.
Elissa Nadworny, NPR News.
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