Changes coming for the SAT
By Robyn Kriel
Staff Reporter

TCU English professor Richard Enos has been invited to become a member of a new committee to add a writing section to the SAT by 2005.

Enos will join the College Board, which administers the exam, as a part of the Reading and Writing Standards Advisory Committee.

“I will represent the colleges in our efforts to introduce a written exam as part of the SAT,” Enos said.

The standards for the SAT were set about 20 years ago, when it was believed that the only components that needed to be tested in this exam were grammar and spelling, Enos said. His job as a member of the College Board will be to evaluate research and proposed curriculums and to make an assessment, he said.

“I will be standing in for the expectations of what colleges want to see in their new freshmen,” he said. “I will be on the committee with two other people, one will represent middle schools and their needs and the other will represent high schools.”

Enos said that writing is forever and the ability to express one’s thoughts and sentiments well is an excellent problem-solving skill.

“In today’s college experience we know that critical thinking is a major determining factor during studies and that is something that the SAT does not test,” Enos said.

The only time a student can demonstrate his or her writing skills is in the Writing SAT II exam, Enos said.

“Introducing a written side to the SAT will better equip high school students, whether they choose to attend universities or not,” he said. “Virtually every university in the United States requires the SAT. It is supposed to determine how well you will do in college.”

Enos said the College Board suggests teaching intensive writing earlier so that students are not overwhelmed when they reach college.

Cathy Block, a professor in the department of curriculum and instruction, said a writing component in the SAT is an excellent idea.

“In the past students could miss an answer in the test and get it wrong but their reasoning for missing it could have been correct,” Block said. “The SAT’s judge you on how much you had memorized, whereas a writing component will show that you can reason.”

Junior English major Megan Penney said section would make the SAT’s much fairer.

“I dreaded taking those exams because I am a writer and think way beyond some of the questions being asked in it,” Penney said. “Also with math, the answer is either yes or no.”