Editorial Board
Dumbing Down the SAT Bodes Poorly for Education
The test’s new format reflects some alarming trends among American students.
Nary a book in sight.
Photographer: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/Getty Images
The SAT is billed as “a great way to find out how prepared students are for college.” If that’s true, recent changes to its format offer an unflattering assessment of the country’s aspiring scholars.
Colleges and universities have long used standardized tests to filter applicants. The SAT, published by the nonprofit College Board, was for decades considered the preeminent one. A nationwide industry arose to help kids prepare for the test and boost their chances of acceptance to a good school. The SAT’s influence over American education was hard to overstate.