College Board will be altering the SAT starting spring 2016, with new rules that will affect how students are scored. These changes come after the president of College Board, David Coleman, commented that the SAT does not properly reflect college and high school learning.

“It is time for an admissions assessment that makes it clear that the road to success is not last-minute tricks or cramming, but the challenging learning students do every day,” Coleman said at a recent press conference.

Some of the major changes include the essay becoming optional, the removal of point deductions for an incorrect answer and the elimination of obscure vocabulary like “arcane” or “persiflage.” PSAT and SAT Prep teacher Jennifer Forthun said the changes have their benefits and drawbacks.

“I think the need to know some of the really [unknown] vocabulary probably wasn’t necessary,” Forthun said. “I don’t like that they made the essay optional because so much of what we do in college is writing, and I think colleges need to know if a student can express a cogent thought in an essay.”

The SAT was previously composed of three sections: reading, writing and math. The renovated test will now only have two sections: one section consisting of both reading and writing and one of math, each worth 800 points. With new testing requirements, SAT preparation classes will be changed to accommodate the new parameters.

One of the resources being offered to students nationwide includes khanacademy.org. College Board is teaming up with them to create SAT preparations that will be offered online for free. This will allow students to prepare without having to pay for expensive tutors or materials. Freshman Kayla Temshiv said she thinks that this website will be beneficial to students.

“I like that they’re letting [students] access that,” Temshiv said. “That’s a great program.”

And test prep isn’t the only thing that will be offered online. The spring 2016 test will be offered online too. Students can choose to take the test on paper or online.

“I think it’s a good thing that students have an option to take it one way or another,” Forthun said. “Students have a different preference.”

Critics of College Board claim that the changes being made to the test were only implemented in order to compete with the SAT’s biggest rival: the ACT. Last year, 1.7 million students took the SAT, while 1.8 million took the ACT.
The ACT covers more curriculum than the SAT does, including science questions. The changes being made to the SAT will, according to College Board, make the test more appealing to students, thus driving more students to take the SAT. Forthun said she believes that the competition between the two companies may have something to do with the changes being made.

“The testing market is a very lucrative business,” Forthun said. “I don’t think it was purely for economic reasons, but I certainly think that was a driving force.”