Both the ACT and SAT will undergo changes over the next year. These new changes will apply to all schools across the nation. Many York students are confused, questioning why these changes are being made.

“Colleges have been giving feedback [on how to improve the content and formart of the tests] which might be one of the reasons,” said Mrs. Thompson, the College and Career Counselor here at York.

“Also, the reason ACT and SAT tests are changing could be because they are trying to be relevant and gain profit, since more and more colleges are becoming test-optional or flexible with what students would like to send from AP, ACT, or SAT scores.”

The American College Test, or the ACT, will make minor changes in the fall testing season:

• A STEM score based on a student’s scores on the math and science sections

• An English Language score based on a student’s score in English, reading, and writing

• “Progress toward career readiness” score that will indicate the area of knowledge a student can excel in for success in the workplace

• New scores for the essay section which will include separate scores on ideas, analysis, development and support, organization, and language use

Other slight changes include the addition of more probability and statistics problems in the math section and some reading comprehension questions based on comparing or drawing information from two different passages, according to Thompson.

“The ACT will not be much different,” said Thompson. “Overall, the ACT will have small changes, unlike the SAT. The SAT will have major substantive changes that will resemble that of the ACT.”

According to the Princeton Review, some of these major changes (effective spring 2016) will include:

• The essay will be optional

• Students will not be penalized for wrong answers

• Questions will have four answer choices instead of five

• Vocabulary will be more familiar to students, with the expectation that students know multiple definitions for that vocabulary

• Multiple steps needed to be taken to get to an answer for some questions • Reading passages with complex structure and vocabulary

• Emphasis on foundation of math skills

• Emphasis on reasoning and critical thinking skills

• Fewer sections of the test

• Less time alotted per section

These major changes affect educational institutions at all levels, and as a result, each institution will be preparing for next year in the ways they see fit.

Colleges might be affected in that they will be able to more easily pick the best candidates for their schools.

High school teachers will need to slightly reform the way they prepare their students for the ACT/SAT.

As for York, it is a priority of the administration to make the necessary adjustments within the curriculum in order to adequately prepare students for these changing standardized tests. But at this point, it is unclear what such adjustments will be.