EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Students inside classrooms at East Stroudsburg High School South are gearing up to take the SAT. But soon, students will be trading in their Number 2 pencils and paper for a laptop. College Board, which owns the SAT, is now moving to a digital format.
"This seems like a positive change. You know, we're coming off of a year, year and a half of virtual and hybrid learning, and the students are more comfortable with technology than they would have been," said Kelly Youngken, an East Stroudsburg High School SAT prep teacher.
The new digital test will still be scored out of 1,600 and should only take two hours instead of three.
Testing is still to be administered in a school or a test center with a teacher present, not at home.
Students will be able to use their laptop or tablet or a school-issued device.
If students don't have one to use, College Board will provide one for use on test day.
If a student loses connectivity or power, the digital SAT has been designed to ensure they won't lose their work or time while they reconnect.
Students in the East Stroudsburg Area School District say they're not super comfortable ditching their pencils just yet.
"When it comes to tests, and like the Keystones, for example, I want to do that all on paper. I'm a paper person," said Vanessa Strube, an East Stroudsburg high school sophomore.
"Never thought the SAT would actually become digital. I always thought that it would be paper. I always thought there would be an essay. But you know, it's 2022 at this point," said Joselyn Castro, an East Stroudsburg high school sophomore.
Phillip Kerzner has been a test center coordinator for the SAT for 15 years. He says the SAT isn't for everyone.
"If taking the SAT is going to help you, let's do it. If it's not going to help you, let's not do it. So we really have to see how colleges are going to react to this and then how that's going to help our students get into the best college that they can," said Kerzner.
The SAT will be going digital internationally beginning in 2023 and in the United States in 2024.
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