College Board Shelved the At-Home SAT® ... So What Happens Now?

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to keep schools, test prep tutors, and college-bound high schoolers on their toes as policies and procedures continuously evolve. One of the latest developments is that College Board has just announced that they will not be offering a version of the SAT® for students to take remotely.

The coronavirus quarantine and social distancing guidelines have forced the cancellation of the spring 2020 SAT® test dates worldwide. There are test dates on the books starting again in August, but with talk of a potential “second wave” of COVID-19 hitting in the fall or winter, there is no guarantee that these tests will happen, either.

Initially, as test dates were being canceled this spring, College Board announced that they would offer a computerized version of the fall SAT® that could be taken from the comfort and safety of students’ homes. Last week, this announcement was walked back.

To be clear, College Board has not scrapped the idea of an at-home SAT®. It is a safe bet that the concept will continue to be workshopped and make a comeback sometime in the future. There is too much value and benefit there to ignore - both for students and College Board. For now, however, it seems like the only way students will be able to take the SAT® is the same ways they always have: at school or a testing center.

Lessons Learned From the 2020 AP At-Home Tests

Admissions tests are one thing, but AP tests are another. Students that were enrolled in Advanced Placement courses for the 2019-2020 school year were left in limbo as schools shuttered and distance learning became the new normal. AP tests are traditionally given each May to participating students during their school days. Coronavirus changed all of that.

College Board quickly adapted, creating significantly shorter tests that could be completed online from a variety of internet-connected devices. Naturally, there were problems:

• Students without internet connections or sufficient bandwidth to remain connected for the duration of the test struggled to take and submit the exams.

• The shortened test meant a significant amount of course material was not assessed.

• Students had to take the tests at the same time, worldwide. This meant that some students had to log in at odd hours to take the test.

• There was no way to prevent students from receiving outside help (despite harsh, finger-wagging warnings from College Board).

To be fair, while the idea of an online AP test may have been percolating for some time at College Board HQ, the final product had to be rolled out pretty quickly and without much warning. Given the circumstances, it would be unreasonable to expect the process to have gone off without a hitch.

Despite the reported issues, College Board touts strong participation and completion rates for the 2020 AP Tests. It may not have been perfect, but the at-home AP tests represent one of the first major standardized tests to be administered in such a fashion.

It stands to reason that before College Board can expect to administer the SAT® - its flagship test - remotely, the concerns of the 2020 AP will need to be sorted out. And with lawsuits starting to pop up about the 2020 online AP process, don’t expect College Board to announce any distance-testing adjustments that could be used against them as a mea culpa in a court of law. Instead, the dream of an at-home SAT® will have to wait.

To compensate, College Board has formally requested leniency from colleges and universities in requiring admissions test scores for 2020 college applicants. Considering most schools have already made the temporary switch to “Test Optional” admissions anyway, this isn't much of an ask.

What About the ACT®?

As of now, the ACT® is still on for at-home testing, but specifics are still unavailable. According to the ACT® COVID-19 FAQ: “The at-home testing option that was recently announced will not be available until late fall or early winter. ACT® will be providing more information about this option in the months ahead.”

If the ACT® can beat College Board to market with a fair and effective online test, it would be a major boon for both ACT® and the lead it has built as the most popular college admissions test. 

Conversely, if ACT® bungles the process - particularly if they run into issues similar to the online AP test - it could set the entire notion of an online standardized test back in a serious way.

The Implications for Test-Prep Businesses and Tutors

As far as the SAT® goes, the absence of an online test means very little changes in terms of strategies and content you need to focus on with your students. The only areas that may require some additional focus are content pieces that may have been difficult (or skipped altogether) as a part of a student’s distance-learning coursework.

The other consideration is whether or not the SAT® is the right focus for your students. With the possibility of future on-site testing being cancelled from a resurgence of coronavirus in the near future, the ACT® is currently the only game in town when it comes to the chance of an online admissions test.

While many students may take the “Test Optional” admissions policies as an excuse to skip testing altogether, it’s not the best move. Preparing for a test and earning a strong score will be a key differentiator in an admissions climate where students will be submitting watered-down GPAs (thanks to pass/fail distance-learning grades), COVID-19 quarantine-themed essays, and weaker-than-normal extracurricular resumes.

Furthermore, it may be worth considering advising students to prepare for both the SAT® and ACT®. It is likely that testing dates may continue to be in short supply between now and next fall. For students looking to submit the strongest possible college applications (and thus the strongest possible scores), they will need to be prepared to make the best of whatever opportunities are available.

Clear Choice’s custom-branded test-prep tools not only provide you with comprehensive physical and digital curriculum materials for each test, but they also make it easy to adapt the preparation for one test to serve the other. Check back later this month for more on how our tools can help you implement this test-prep strategy.

Can’t wait? Schedule a free consultation to see how Clear Choice can keep your testing business on the cutting edge for both digital and in-person test-prep strategies.