While the October 2020 SAT was completely different from other recent administered tests (read HERE) - the College Board decided to swing completely in the opposite direction!
March 2021 Reading Test - Whiplash!
2020 PSAT: The Reading Test - Less P and More SAT
2020 PSAT: The Reading Test - Less P and More SAT
The 2020 PSAT saw some substantial changes! The Reading Test looked much less like previous PSATs and must more like the current iteration of the SAT.
WHAT STAYED THE SAME
(1) Previous PSATs included more questions that told the student where in the passage they could find the answer as compared to the SAT. This did not change.
(2) Previous PSATs included fewer questions that require the student to compare to passages as compared to the PSAT. This too did not change.
(3) PSATs continue to have, on average, the same number of Main Idea questions as the SAT.
WHAT CHANGED
(4) A hallmark of the PSAT Reading Test is that it typically has fewer (proportionally - as the PSAT only has 47 questions compared to the SAT’s 52 questions) questions where a student must hunt down the answer in the passage. As we have noted HERE, these have become the most important question type of the SAT Reading Test, as the test has evolved, save the October 2020 Test.
In this way - it appears that the College Board not only mixed up the October 2020 SAT Reading Test, but also the October 2020 PSAT.
TAKE AWAY
Those prepared for the SAT (with high #s of questions that do not include a line reference) would have been well prepped for the 2020 PSAT! The October SAT & PSAT Reading Tests run counter to well established test trends. We will need to keep a careful eye on these changes for potentially significant strategy modifications for each test!
The 2020 October SAT Math Tests
The October 2020 SAT Reading Test - Some Pretty Big Changes
The October SAT Writing Test - How it matches up!
On the whole there are no huge changes on the October Writing Test.
However, there are a few small tweaks …
Compared to the average of the 10 Official Tests in the College Board Book/available online (#2 & 4), the October Test had
2 more punctuation questions - matching a growing importance placed on punctuation
1 more grammar question (consistently of plural vs singular or verb tense)
1 more graphic question
0 - we call them grab bag questions — those questions that test grammar rules - but rarely (e.g. subject vs. object pronouns or idioms)
3 questions that ask about main ideas of paragraphs and/or passages; this question is a newly emerging trend.
On the whole there were no great changes - but rather some minor shifts.
The October SAT Reading Test
The October SAT Reading Test had no major surprises:
Questions that ask about details in the passage, but you have to search for them remained outsized, matching their growing significance.
Evidence, line reference, main idea, and graphic questions remained consistent.
We get up to some fun!
Last week we got to make a trip to Cambridge/Harvard Business School - for a wonderful opportunity to talk with some really kind folks about what we are doing here in greater JAX! And because we were without kids - it was also a date! Thank you to everyone who has been so supported of us! We so appreciate it! It has been quite a journey!
The June 2019 ACT English Test
All grammar (including punctuation) and editing paragraphs questions both were presented in the usual ways and at similar frequency as previous tests.
Editing sentences - which normally appear on average in 13 questions (December 2018 we had 20 questions) - appeared in but 7 questions on June ACT.
As we gear up for the test this weekend - is seems that a focus on Punctuation continues to pay off!
The June 2019 ACT Reading Test
Here’s what we saw: a lot of normal!
Questions that ask about a detail in a passage you have to search for — 19 questions. The average on all publicly available tests is …. 19 (April 2019 had 17).
Questions that ask about a detail in the passage and give a line reference — 9. The average on all publicly availably tests is … 10 (April 2019 had 13).
Questions that ask about the passage as a whole — 9 questions. The average on all publicly available tests is … 8 (April 2019 had 13).
Questions that ask about vocab — 2 questions. The average on all publicly available test is … 3 (April 2019 had 3).
All in all the test had no major surprises! Let’s hope the July is similar!
What it takes to get National Merit Scholarship
For the last two years, 1470 on the PSAT has been enough to get NMS in Florida, meaning top 1% PSAT scores.
The actual number associated with national merit is a composite of the 3 (Reading, Writing, and Math) sub scores (out of 40) x 2. This means each section counts equally - whereas for your PSAT score - Math is given the same weight as a combined Reading and Writing score.
In short - for National Merit - Verbal (reading & writing) counts for 2/3 of your score!
E.g. Reading 38 + Writing 37 + Math 37 = 112 x 2 =224
So the actual cut off number is usually in 216-219 range for Florida.