Intoduction to the Digital SAT
The New Digital SAT
The SAT has changed. It is now digital in North America. The change has included some concept and paradigm shifts in fundamentals of both the English and Math Section.
The format of questions has changed, the time distribution for each question and amount of questions.
How the Digital SAT Is Structured
The Digital SAT is composed of two sections: Reading and Writing, and Math. All students unless they have a learning disability has 64 minutes to complete the Reading and Writing Section, Then have 70 minutes to complete the Math Section. The complete exam takes a total of 2 hours and 14 minutes.
Each Section is divided into 2 equal length modules, and there is a 10 minute break between Reading and Writing section and the Math Section. The first module of each section a broad mix of easy, medium, and difficult questions. The Second module will either be more difficult or less difficult based on the students performance, this is called Adaptive testing.
Overview of Digital SAT
Section | Module | Questions | Time Allotted |
Reading and Writing | Module 1 | 27 Questions | 32 Minutes |
Reading and Writing | Module 2 | 27 Questions | 32 Minutes |
Math | Module 1 | 22 Questions | 35 Minutes |
Math | Module 2 | 22 questions | 35 Minutes |
Total | 4 Modules | 98 questions | 2 Hours and 14 mins |
In Comparison to the ACT the SAT gives each student 68% more time per question.
- Most of the questions are multiple choice except for the math section some are free response questions, which do require students to manually write their answers.
- Never forget that you are not penalized for guessing but if you do not answer the question it does count as a wrong answer.
Reading and Writing Section
The purpose of the reading and writing section is to evaluate the comprehension and logical reasoning of each sudent through detailed analysis across many subjects. The reading and writing section gauges skills like evidence interpretation, idea articulation, ability to conform to Standard English and punctuation.
Question Types:
The Reading and Writing section consists of questions categorized into four specific categories:
1. Information and Ideas: This area focuses on your ability to comprehend, analyze, and ability to reason. It examines your skill in identifying, interpreting, evauating, and assessing information from text and also quantative data such as tables, bar graphs, and line graphs.
2. Craft and Structure: Measures the retention, vocabulary, analysis, reasoning skills, knowledge of language, use of high utility vocabulary, phrases in context, evaluate texts rhetorically, and make connections between topically related texts.
3.Expression of Ideas: Measures a student's ability to revise text and improve effectiveness.
4.Standard English Conventions: Measures the ability to edit grammatical, punctuation errors and conform to core conventions of Standard English sentence structure.
Questions are divided into a specific subcategory called skills. Different skills usually have unique worded questions, but a single skill may take the form of multiple types of questions.
This table shows the different Reading and Writing Skills:
Domain | Skill | Distribution |
Information and Ideas |
| ≈26%
(12-14 questions) |
Expression of Ideas |
| ≈20%
(8-12 questions) |
Craft and Structure |
| ≈28%
(13-15 questions) |
Standard English Conventions |
| ≈26%
(11-15 questions) |
To mitigate risk for context switching, the SAT now group together the questions testing similar domains such as Craft and Structure, Standard English Conventions, Expression of Ideas, and Information and Ideas. The questions are setup in the order of increasing difficulty making it easier for students to focus on that specific area. Collegeboard has found this optimizes time more effectively and allows student to showcase their abilities better. On the Contrary, questions in Standard English Conventions domains are sorted by difficulty, based on the law beeing assessed.
Math Section:
The Math section includes both multiple choice and Free Response questions, and calculator use is allowed for the entirety of the math portion of the exam. The math on SAT tests proficiency in the fields Algebra, Data Analysis and Interpretation, problem-solving, halding complex equations, geometry and trigonometry.
Questions Types:
The Math section just like the reading and writing section is split into 4 main topics:
1.Algebra: Heart of algebra examines the ability to comprehend, solve, and create systems of equations, linear functions and linear inequalities.
2.Advnced Math: This section reviews the ability to solve higher-level math by testing various types of math ranging but not limiting to exponential equations, absolute value functions, logarithmic functions, and rational equations.
3.Problem-Solving and Data Analysis: Tests quantitative reasoning skills, specifically dealing with ratios, rates, unit rates, and data interpretation.
4.Geometry and Trigonometry: Focuses on geometric calculations involving perimeter, area, volume, angles, polygons, and circles.
Each test module includes questions from all content domains, arranged in ascending order of difficulty to help test-takers optimally showcase their abilities. Once again, questions in a particular domain are further split into skills:
Domain | Skills | Distribution |
Algebra |
| ≈35%
(13-15 questions) |
Advanced Math |
| ≈35%
(13-15 questions) |
Problem-Solving and Data Analysis |
| ≈15%
(5-7 questions) |
Geometry and Trigonometry |
| ≈15%
(5-7 questions) |
Scoring
Questions are marked as either right or wrong, and student are not penalized for guessing. The final score for each section, ranging from 200 to 800, takes into account both the difficulty level of each question and the student's performance.
The total SAT score ranges from 400 to 1600 and is the sum of scores from two sections. The exact pedagogy College Board and are different for each exam.
To get estimate score ranges make sure to use Digital SAT Score Calculators that can be found online.