The College Board has announced a huge overhaul of its SAT tests, saying university admission tests don't put enough weight on certain key skills needed for higher education.
President of the College Board David Coleman said the SAT test and its opposing exam the ACT "have become disconnected from the work of our high schools."
According to a report by the New York Times, the new SAT tests will no longer use obscure vocabulary words to throw off test takers - instead, words that are commonly used in college classes like "synthesis" and "empirical" will be found on the exam.
The mathematics portion will cover specific curriculum; the new test will mostly contain linear equations, proportional thinking and functions problems. Students cannot use calculators on the SAT anymore, as well.
The test can be taken either on paper or by computer, and the new scoring will return to the previous 1600 scale. Students can opt out of the essay, which holds a separate score, the Times reported.
Coleman and other SAT officials are also pushing for a series of new programs that provide financial aid and study services to low-income students - among them, fee waivers for college applications and free practice problems posted online from old tests.
The changes will be put in place spring 2016.
"It is time for the College Board to say in a clearer voice that the culture and practice of costly test preparation that has arisen around admissions exams drives the perception of inequality and injustice in our country," Coleman said in a speech on Wednesday. "It may not be our fault, but it is our problem."
Coleman told the Times that many students find the tests to be enigmatic and "filled with unproductive anxiety." Just 20 percent of United States teachers consider the SAT test a fair and legitimate demonstration of how well teens do in school.
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