New digital SAT raises concerns about equity – The Mercury News

A student at Santa Clara High School takes an SAT practice test at school on Nov. 30. Moving the SAT to digital-only preparation raises worries about whether low-income students without a computer or internet at home can adequately prepare for the high-stakes test. (Joshua Cedro/Mosaic Vision staff)

Editor’s Note: This article was written for Mosaic Vision, an independent journalism training program for high school students who report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.

After nearly a century of using pencil and paper, the SAT will join the age of digital testing by introducing a new online exam in March.

But the change is raising concerns within the education community about how low-income students without sufficient home access to computers and the internet will be able to adequately prepare for a crucial test that can decide — or limit — their college choices.

“On a practical level, preparing for the digital SAT test requires consistent access to high-speed internet, accurate mock test items, and a physical environment that mimics optimal testing conditions. All of these are harder to come by for low-income students,” said Irene Shih, chief executive officer of Minds Matter Bay Area, an organization dedicated to increasing the numbers of high-achieving, low-income students at highly selective universities.

The College Board, the non-profit organization that administers the Scholastic Aptitude Test, states that the digital SAT benefits students by shortening the test to two hours instead of three, reducing stress. The new test is also adaptive, tailoring the difficulty level to each student’s performance in previous sections.

However, not all of the College Board’s consumers are pleased with the change.

“College Board should still offer the paper SAT for people who might feel more comfortable taking it on paper than a computer,” said Salean Nguyen, a Yerba Buena High School senior. “If that option is removed, it would feel as though College Board is not considering the circumstances of the students. Students all have different needs.’’

The College Board will offer free online practice tests and allow students to borrow a computer on test day if they do not have one.

“With the transition to digital tests, the College Board is working to address inequities in access to technology,’’ a spokeswoman said.

Historically, the SAT gap between high-income and low-income students has always been wide. Harvard University researchers determined that about 20% of students in the bottom 10th  of household income took the SAT, compared with over 80 percent of students in the 90th percentile.

Low income also widens the digital divide. Less than 60% of households with an annual income below $30,000 have computers and home internet, compared with over 90% of households making at least $100,000, the Pew Research Center reports.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group that advocates for equitable technology access, reports that many low-income households encounter higher prices and lower quality from internet service providers with monopolies on markets.

“This basic disadvantage will cause inequities not only in test preparation for the digital SAT but also in all learning as education becomes more digital’,’ said Chao Jun Liu, an EFF legislative associate.

Digital testing poses another dilemma for students: loss of access to Student Search Services, an opt-in program that shares a student’s personal information from the SAT with potential scholarships and colleges.

According to the College Board research, students who participate in Student Search Services receive 29% more offers of admission to colleges. However, data privacy laws adopted in over 40 states now restrict how the College Board can share information it collects from minors. Most of these laws prohibit the board from sharing student data collected from SAT tests administered at a public school on a school day.

With 67% of students taking the SAT in school, the impact will be acutely felt, especially among low-income students who are less likely to take weekend tests.

“Under the new reality of digital testing, it seems that the inequity of being low income will simply lead to another inequity — not taking the SAT outside of school — which will ultimately end in another inequity — not having access to information or outreach from colleges,” Shih said.

The College Board aims to rectify the drop-off in Student Search Services participation with a similar program called Connections, which will be exclusively accessible through a mobile app. Still, Connections’ success hinges on students’ downloading the app, which requires them to have a smartphone.

Despite concerns, there is a belief that the SAT’s adoption of digital testing was inevitable and a natural progression.

Digital tests intend to limit cheating by varying questions and test versions within a room, said Jon Lee, senior director at Compass Education Group, an academic tutoring company. They also avoid the environmental impact of printing and shipping paper exams.

“The digital format makes preparation with practice tests convenient,” Lee said.

Ella Polak is a junior at Leland High School in San Jose.