Bowing to pressure from critics, the College Board recently announced that it is considering changes to the the SAT I test for the first time in nine years.
The possible changes, if passed, will be applied to both the verbal and math sections of the test.
"The SAT has changed a lot over 76 years of existence," College Board spokeswoman Chiara Coletti said. "It changes to reflect the changes of teaching and learning in the country."
Coletti said that the largest change will be the addition of a written essay section, used to gauge test-takers' writing skills.
"I think that the theory is that if you know to get into college you need to take a writing test, you may concentrate on working harder," she said.
The writing sample would replace the analogies section of the test -- which critics say may be unfair to students who do not speak english as their primary language.
However, the College Board also considered a written essay section in the early 1990s but rejected it for many of the same reasons.
"One of the opinions expressed was that the writing component can hurt the scores of immigrant students," Coletti said.
Coletti added that the math section may be made "harder" by adding material from Algebra II and Trigonometry.
One of the most vocal critics of the SAT test is Richard Atkinson, president of the University of California system, who called for sweeping changes in admissions testing in February 2000.
The UC system -- which consistently draws more than 50,000 SAT-taking applicants each year -- announced in January that it was considering the adoption of a brand new test specifically tailored to its needs.
University of California Admissions spokeswoman Hanan Eisenman said that the UC system was working with the College Board and ACT, Inc. -- the SAT's competitor -- to help develop alternatives to the SAT I
"We've been looking at our admissions test for some time now," Eisenman said. "We have been showing them exactly what an admissions test should look like."
But Coletti pointed out that the adoption of a new test can make things difficult for students who want to apply to the UC system and other schools that accept the SAT I because they would have to take multiple tests.
Coletti added that it is difficult to develop a brand new test in the current educational landscape.
"To really make a good test and to prove its validity takes years," she said.
However, the proposed changes to the SAT I may negate any need for the UC system to develop its own test.
"What the College Board has announced is a positive indication," Eisenman said. "It is too soon to say whether this is going to satisfy our requirements."
Any proposed changes to the SAT would not be put into effect until 2006 at the earliest.
But other critics of the SAT say that the test favors those of a higher socioeconomic status, with white and Asian students consistently scoring higher than black and Latino students.
Coletti said that many other standardized tests show the same results, suggesting that the problem is more pervasive than the SAT alone.
"The goal is to make [the SAT I test] fairer and to make it more effective in the educational environment we have," she added.
The last time the test was changed was in 1993, when antonyms were taken out and students were permitted to bring calculators for the revamped math section.
Coletti said that though the UC system -- which generates more demand for the SAT than any other institution -- influenced the need to change the test, the College Board constantly revises the test to "improve education at a lower level" by encouraging math and writing skills in schools.
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