As of this year, our once beloved SAT has transitioned to the digital landscape. Long gone are the days of paper-and-pencil testing, and while this change may seem like a step in the right direction, I believe that the digital SAT is really a trojan horse, hiding something much deeper under the surface.

  The new online SAT has a few more surprises than simply being taken via computer. The test now implements “multistage adaptive testing”. This means that each subject (Reading/Writing and Math) is divided into two modules, and your performance on the first module determines the difficulty of your second module. If you perform well on the first module, then your next module will be substantially harder, or if you perform not so well, then your next questions will be easier. If you are wondering how this could be fair: it isn’t. Students are penalized for answering questions correctly, which is incredibly counterintuitive. An adaptive test that changes in difficulty for each student cannot also be standardized, by its very nature. Instead of providing everybody with an equal playing field, the digital SAT manipulates every student’s field in real time to minimize a disparity in scores, prioritizing equality of outcome over equality of opportunity.

  How have we been so complacent with such a dishonest system? Collegeboard has marketed this new SAT format as being more efficient, with students receiving their scores “in days instead of weeks”. However, Collegeboard fell short on this promise, with scores taking one month to be released after the test was administered. Considering that the test is taken on a computer and being graded in real time, it makes you wonder why students are waiting a whole month to receive their scores. Unfortunately, what Collegeboard does with our tests behind closed doors is a mystery. Because your SAT score is judged by universities across the nation, you would hope there would be a little transparency in how it is actually scored. Instead, Collegeboard has a monopoly on our educational worth, with the unique power to choose in what light universities view each applicant.

  Please join me in signing this petition to restore the integrity of the SAT and hold Collegeboard accountable for its privileges over students’ education. If we can win the attention of our policy makers, like Governor DeSantis, we can make the SAT great again and fight to keep Florida at the forefront of education.