REPORT OF THE
NCAA RESEARCH COMMITTEE
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS.
Association-wide.
?
Changes to the SAT I and ACT tests.
(1)
SAT I. Beginning
in March of 2005 the SAT I will be changed in significant ways. The new test will evaluate mathematical
problem solving, reading for understanding and writing using standard written
English. Specific changes to the verbal
and math sections include: 1) items from
Algebra II will be added to the math section and quantitative comparisons will
be eliminated; 2) more reading passages will be included with the existing long
reading passages in the verbal section and this section will be renamed critical
reading, and 3) the analogies in this section will be dropped, while the
sentence-completion questions will remain.
The most significant change to the SAT will be the
addition of a mandatory writing section including both multiple-choice
items and a student-written essay. The
writing section multiple-choice questions will test students' ability to
identify sentence errors, improve sentences and improve paragraphs. They will be focused on the mechanics of
writing than the process of composing.
The exact number of writing section multiple-choice questions and the
length of time allowed for the essay are still under consideration. The essay will likely ask students to take a
position on an issue and support it with reasons and evidence from his or her
reading, experience and observations.
The essays will be given a score of 1-6 independently by two highly
trained high school or college composition teachers using a rubric that focuses
upon content, organization, language usage and sentence structure. A third reader will evaluate the test if the
first two readers' scores differ by more than two points.
All sections of the test will be scored using the
200 to 800 scale, and The College Board claims that scores for the math and
verbal sections of the current and future tests will remain equivalent. Each student will now also receive a third
score for the writing section of the test (making a total score of 2400
possible). The SAT II: Subjects Tests are not expected to
change. The cost of the test will
increase, but the exact amount has not been determined yet. The College Board will engage in validity
research in the near future.
(2) ACT. Beginning in February of 2005 ACT will offer
postsecondary institutions and students a choice of taking the ACT Assessment
with our without a writing component (unlike the SAT-I, where the writing component
will be required of all test takers).
More specifically, students can continue to take only the four traditional
ACT tests (English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science) or, students can take
the four traditional ACT tests, plus the 30-minute writing test, which will be
administered last in the sequence. Students
who choose to take the writing test will be charged an additional fee, which
has yet to be determined.
After the introduction of the writing test, scores
on the four other ACT Assessment tests, as well as the ACT Composite score, can
be interpreted and used exactly as they are now. For those students who take the writing test,
a combined English/Writing score (range 1-36) will be given along with a
writing subscore, with a narrative interpretation. Two trained raters will determine the writing
test score and if the two raters disagree by more than a point, a third rater
will also score the test.
During the Fall of 2003, ACT will conduct
predictive validity studies aimed at determining the writing test's ability to
predict first-term grades in specific courses and first-term grade-point
average. A subsequent scaling study will
be designed to develop the combined English/Writing score and to establish the
overall reliability of the assessment.
(3) Research Committee
Recommendations. After learning of
the changes to the SAT I and ACT, the Research Committee recommended that the research
staff work collaboratively with the two testing companies on interpretation of
their current validity research as it relates to the student-athlete population
and develop additional collaborative studies as necessary. The committee also recommends to the Division
I Board of Directors that a solid body of research on the predictive validity
and disparate impact of the tests be established before the NCAA makes any
changes to the initial-eligibility rules.
The committee expressed serious concern that the changes to these tests
are occurring without a solid empirical basis to understand the potential
effects. The committee is concerned specifically
about: the changes to the SAT and how
those will relate to current initial-eligibility rules, proposed
initial-eligibility rules, and how they may relate to any potential future
initial-eligibility rule changes that may be necessitated by the changes to the
tests. Finally, the committee recommends
that
funding be obtained to
use for research (separate from any conducted by the testing companies) on how
the changes to both tests will affect student-athletes.