DAN K. THOMASSON New SAT: It's a test of anxiety

WASHINGTON -- Nothing like the Scholastic Aptitude Test to send chills through high-school juniors and seniors, their parents and college coaches whose prospective recruits have to meet certain standards. Well, the dreaded SATs are about to get more difficult and the panic understandably is accelerating.
Those who complained that the current test didn't meet modern standards, concentrating only on math and language, did so despite the old warning to be careful for what you wish for, because you just may get it. So the new version will incorporate an essay requirement and a new and improved math section. The cries of anguish can be heard from the public schools to the private academies.
There are winners, of course, and as usual they are the test-givers, private instructors and others associated with this multibillion-dollar business that many academicians consider unfair and prejudiced against public-school students. In fact, a whole batch of kids may just be left behind no matter how hard George W. Bush, who got into Yale as a legacy, tries to prevent it.
The new SATs are a perfect example of the difficulties of trying to devise a fair and equal standardized test on which the president's education program is predicated. Schools are so busy preparing and administering the exams K through 12, they may not have the time to properly school their college hopefuls for the entrance exam. It is of particular concern to those students without the economic means to buy their way into a good test score through prep courses and individualized tutoring.
Practice sessions
The growing nervousness over the new SAT is reflected in the number of students who have signed up for free practice testing. Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, the global leader in test preparation, reported recently that enrollment in its free practice-test sessions and workshops had jumped by 78 percent over a similar period last year. The practice sessions are held at 160 Kaplan test centers and high schools throughout the country and are open to any student.
Kaplan reported that an initial assessment of student results and feedback from new SAT practice-test sites revealed that the length of the examination is by far the greatest concern. Students are unaccustomed to nearly four hours of testing and are finding it difficult to summon the stamina needed to complete the test successfully. If the overall test is too long, most students found the amount of time for the essay too brief. The examination assigns only 25 minutes to it.
According to Kaplan, students are also discovering that the math section is more difficult than the current test, in large part because of the addition of advanced algebra II questions. And (surprise, surprise) those from less affluent urban areas are particularly concerned about the grammar section, feeling that they have not received adequate preparation in school.
The large increase in practice-test takers stems partly from the fact that the standard PSAT, the one students take to prepare for the real thing, doesn't include an essay. So, Kaplan explains, many high-school counselors are urging students to sign up for the broader practice test.
Common standards
There never has been anything terribly fair about these exams, devised by academics during the beginning of the baby boom to separate the chaff from the huge number of those who suddenly decided to seek a college education. By setting common standards, the chore for admissions offices became much more manageable. They would just throw out those applications that didn't reach the preset SAT score.
The excuse was that the quality of public education was so uneven nationally that high-school grades alone weren't a true predictor of college success. The exam's fallacy always has been that it purports to measure 12 years of learning, but is utterly vulnerable to short-term improvement through the expensive courses. While most private schools begin teaching to the test early, many public schools, particularly those in inner cities, do not have that luxury.
The "improved" version, which came about as more and more colleges and universities decided to drop the SAT as a requirement for admission, appears not to have addressed the basic weaknesses. Actually, if the research is correct, it may have made the experience even more horrendous and pressure-filled for students and parents alike.
X Thomasson is former editor of the Scripps Howard.