Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion June SAT Error & CB Decision & Consequences

As some of you probably heard, ETS had a printing error on the June SAT test booklet, which affected close to a half million U.S. test takers.

Here's CB's official statement/solution:
https://lp.collegeboard.org/information-regarding-the-saturday-june-6-sat-administration

In short, the test booklets indicated a 25 minute time limit rather than 20 minutes on one of the reading sections. As a result, that reading section as well as a math section that was taken by some students while others took the affected reading section will not be graded. This means that the number of questions will now be 70.4% (Math) and 71.6% (Reading)of the intended total. CB claims that statistical analysis indicates that the scores will still be reliable. While I think that the statement is probably true, another problem is the perception of the colleges/organizations to scores from this irregular administration.

The reason why I think that the statement is probably true is that based on a quick and dirty examination of common differences in section scores, most test takers will probably score within 30 points without the 3rd section. Furthermore, probably across the board but definitely at least at the higher end, a difference of 30 points is not significant in the sense that the same person can be expected to score within a 30 point range on any given day. However, any particular person could be an outlier and sometimes even those 30 points can make the difference between making the cut or not.

The crazy thing is that many (if not most) test takers only took 20 minutes on those sections as intended and CB have documentations (Proctor's log of start/stop times for each section) of which groups took the test as intended but they are throwing out those two sections for everyone. I understand this may have to do with the sophisticated "equating" process that CB uses to account for minor differences in test difficulty and ability levels of students at each administration.

Anyhow, what do you all think?

Given that almost 30% of the questions will go unscored, would you still consider the June SAT scores valid?

Do you think that colleges, talent searches, etc. will accept these scores as valid?

Do you think that more students will be disadvantaged rather than advantaged by fewer questions? (This means you have to miss fewer questions to get the same score).

By the way, this is not an academic question for me. DS took the June SAT by way of NUMATS for the purpose of qualifying for SET. Now I don't know whether NUMATS or SET would even accept the scores as valid. If acceptance is not a problem, then there is the issue of whether throwing out the shorter 3rd section for Math and Reading will adversely impact his score. I am not as worried about Math but he is borderline in Reading so he can easily miss that 700 threshold due to this fiasco. The crazy thing is his group took only 20 minutes as intended on both sections and he felt good about the test.

Some parents/students were discussing a free retake but for incoming seniors, that can be difficult schedule-wise. I actually feel more sympathy for the high school students than kids like DS with much lower stakes. The problem with just retaking one section is that the score would be less reliable and likely inflated a bit. One of the challenges of the SAT is stamina in that you have to take a total of 10 sections (3 each in math,reading & writing plus 1 experimental) totaling 3 hours 45 minutes plus about 30 minutes filling out forms with only 3 five minutes breaks total.

Some parents/students feel that students who got the extra 5 minutes should keep the benefit of that extra time but an additional 25% time boost can really boost the scores, especially for the higher scoring students, according to other parents/students, which might negatively impact students who only took 20 minutes due to the "equating" process. What I don't understand is why students who didn't take any extra time can't have their sections scored.

I would want to have my student take a re-take. (Fortunately my DS was only taking the SAT Subject test) It's really hard to believe that won't affect scores. If it didn't why bother giving the students such a long test in the first place.

I guess the students always have the option to retake the SAT if they are willing to pay for it and their calendar is otherwise workable. I think it will affect scores but likely a relatively small amount (10-20 points in each of the two affected categories) for most students but more often in the downward direction, particularly the math section since there are now 28 multiple-choice questions plus 10 fill-in questions instead of 44 multiple-choice questions plus 10 fill-in questions. I think that is why CB is careful to use the word "reliable" rather than "accurate".

I think that the more questions, the more accurate the result but that fewer questions should still be reasonably reliable. However, CB may not be able to charge as much and the experience would not be as grueling a rite of passage or as much a test of stamina and consistency.

I have to admit that I am glad that CB is not invalidating all the scores, as that was some people's first fear over the week-end. It isn't worthwhile for DS to retake it anytime soon and I don't think he would voluntarily spend another 5-hour day at the testing center. I really wish they would provide the scoring for the two sections (even if unofficially) for DS and anybody else who took the sections in the correct amount of time. While I do believe that removing the shorter 3rd section will still yield reliable results, I would like the more accurate result of his actual performance that day.

I guess I need to try to see it as another chance variable since you can only reliably pinpoint a range of scores rather than a specific number for any test administration. CB's approach is probably on the recommendation of their attorneys first and their statisticians second.

From the College Board's website, if you were caught up in the June 6 timing snafu (as was my DD) you can ask to retake the test, in October, free of charge:

"Q: Is there an opportunity for students to take the test again?
We remain confident in the reliability of scores from the June 6 administration of the SAT and don't want to cause undue anxiety for students by making them believe they need to sit for the test again. However, we have waived the fee for the October SAT administration for students who let us know that their testing experience was negatively affected by the printing error and we will continue to do so, through the September 3 registration deadline for the October administration."

Best of luck,
-S.F.

Thanks! I hope it worked out okay for your DD as well. I am keeping the free re-test in mind since DS did not meet the SET threshold in CR but I don't think that he is inclined to test again so soon and I am not sure whether there is a point in qualifying through CR if you already qualified through Math. Anyhow, DS has another year and I can probably ask after they process his SET paperwork.