“The results (of the new SAT validity study) show that the changes made to the SAT did not substantially change how well the test predicts first-year college performance.” That is a quote from a new report from the College Board addressing a “large-scale national validity study of the SAT”.
As previously reported, the new writing section is the best predictor of college success of the three SAT sections. This is an interesting finding considering the problems that have been previously addressed regarding the writing section. The report finds that high school grades are overall a better predictor of college succes than the SAT, but the College Board suggests that a combination of high school grades and SAT scores is the best predictor of college success.
A New York Times articles provides a counterpoint to the College Board’s discussion of the new SAT report with comments from Robert Schaeffer of FairTest.
The bottom line? High school grades continue to be the most effective predictor of college success although the new SAT writing section is a better predictor than the other two sections. Given the problems with the new Writing section and the reluctance of many colleges, including the most selective, to use the new Writing section in admissions decisions, there appears to be increasing legitimacy to the argument that replacing the SAT may be a good idea.
uggh i didn’t have enough time to finish the written portion.
hopefully i can get in to NIU after ECC!
Kristin,
The good news is that most colleges aren’t giving a lot or weight to the writing section even now that it has been out for a few years. And remember, grades are the most important factor in admissions at almost all colleges so as long as you keep your grades up, you should find the right college for you.
I’ve been prepping kids for the SAT writing section for a few years now. It’s easily the most gameable section of the SAT. I have no ideas how it is serving as a better predictor than the Math or Verbal.
Perhaps that’s an indicator of how poor those sections are at measuring anything!
I tend to agree with you that the fact that the SAT writing section is a better predictor reflects on how poorly the SAT as a whole really helps in the admissions process.