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SAT Essay Purpose and Supporting Research

New SAT Essay

The 2016 SAT includes an essay section that’s been significantly redesigned. Students are not any longer expected to complete the essay, but many universities mandate the submission of essay scores, together with College Board recommends that most students take this element of the SAT so that you can demonstrate reading, writing, and analysis skills. Enough time given when it comes to essay happens to be doubled to 50 minutes, together with essay task is now centered on analysis of an argument in place of taking a position on a concern. Students write a single essay based on a prompt that is largely consistent across all administrations associated with the SAT.

The faculty Board cites the requirement to essay that is separate off their verbal skills and institutional desire to have more specific essay scoring criteria given that major grounds for the SAT essay redesign, but popular criticism was certainly also an issue. Opponents regarding the old essay that is SAT the assessment as an undesirable and somewhat arbitrary predictor of college success. These criticisms were to some extent sustained by independent research. One study, for example, found a write my essay for me correlation that is strong essay length and score.

The essay prompt for the 2016 SAT asks students to investigate a text that is between 650 and 750 words in total. All essay reading passages are argumentative, designed for general readerships, and extracted from historical or sources that are contemporary. Student essays must consider use that is author of to guide claims, reasoning to develop ideas and to connect claims, and stylistic and persuasive elements such as word choice or appeals to emotion. In their essays, students should analyze the argument advanced within the reading passage as opposed to write about their own views on the niche. The consistent nature of the essay prompt ensures that test-takers will understand the basic essay task in advance, even though they will not understand the particular reading passage ahead of time. This change is visible as an attempt to more closely align the SAT essay with the types of essays which can be written on college exams.

SAT Essay Scoring

The 2016 SAT essay is scored separately from the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and Math sections. Three scores are given: Reading, Analysis, and Writing. Every one of these will undoubtedly be on a scale of 2-8. Two scorers read each essay independently and offer a score of 1 to 4 in each area. A score of 4 is regarded as “Advanced,” while 1 is “Inadequate.” Evaluation criteria include comprehension of essay reading passages, analysis and explanation of argument, and effectiveness of essay writing.

Student preparation should emphasize analytical skills with regards to written texts in a range that is broad of publications. An SAT that is experienced can offer relevant reading lists, knowledge of how the SAT essay is scored, differentiated instruction in terms of essay-writing skill development, and assessment of progress. Informed sources generally concur that private SAT preparation is better than self-study methods or pre-recorded video instruction due to the presence of a teacher that is live.

The SAT Essay is intended to combine aided by the Writing and Language Test to give a broad assessment of writing skills. College Board goals that are relevant to the SAT Essay include “an emphasis on source analysis and employ of evidence,” “attention to a core group of important English language conventions also to effective written expression,” and “text complexity aligned to college and career readiness quantities of reading.” Research has shown that college texts are much more difficult than a lot of the materials that students encounter in twelfth grade. A 2009 study demonstrated a reliable and lengthy decline in the complexity of texts used in the secondary level, and College Board data on SAT scores verify that too few students are graduating from twelfth grade using the verbal skills required by college courses. Relating to College Board surveys, postsecondary instructors consider textual analysis to be the most essential of college-level skills. Studies also indicate that writing abilities is not acquired through direct instruction alone; opportunities for regular practice must certanly be included. The brand new SAT Essay is designed to address these problems and improve on older writing assessments that lots of educators saw as arbitrary when it comes to evaluation criteria and less than ideal with respect to pedagogical or value that is predictive.