Paper vs Digital SAT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The math second module was way harder than any practice blue book test.

my kid just took it today and said exactly this.

Same. Felt good on practice DSAT and said there were a couple of math problems in the second module that he had no clue how to do.

Mine too! Relieving to hear that is common experience. He’s not shooting for sky high score but nice to know maybe this doesn’t mean he didn’t do terribly

Same here. Math module 2 was extremely hard for many, many test takers who had done really, really well in test practice. This is all over the internets...

Test takers discussing are talking about curved results. I don't think they are technically curved but I do think scores are somehow adjusted for difficulty depending on test date, but the information I have found is not clear. Specifically, what I found on College Board was too short, general and vague, but prep companies do describe some score adjustment to make it equal across test dates ("while emphasizing it's NOT curved"). Anyone seen a comprehensive, transplant, and clear explanation from an original source, which I assume would be the College Board?

When you say this is “all over the internet” what do you mean? Other than DCUM I would have no idea where to look for such info?

[Anonymous]

Reddit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The math second module was way harder than any practice blue book test.

my kid just took it today and said exactly this.

Same. Felt good on practice DSAT and said there were a couple of math problems in the second module that he had no clue how to do.

Mine said the same. Said there were about 5 questions that threw them for a loop in the Math section.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The math second module was way harder than any practice blue book test.

my kid just took it today and said exactly this.

Same. Felt good on practice DSAT and said there were a couple of math problems in the second module that he had no clue how to do.

Mine too! Relieving to hear that is common experience. He’s not shooting for sky high score but nice to know maybe this doesn’t mean he didn’t do terribly

Same here. Math module 2 was extremely hard for many, many test takers who had done really, really well in test practice. This is all over the internets...

Test takers discussing are talking about curved results. I don't think they are technically curved but I do think scores are somehow adjusted for difficulty depending on test date, but the information I have found is not clear. Specifically, what I found on College Board was too short, general and vague, but prep companies do describe some score adjustment to make it equal across test dates ("while emphasizing it's NOT curved"). Anyone seen a comprehensive, transplant, and clear explanation from an original source, which I assume would be the College Board?

They do something called “equating”.

https://www.edisonos.com/blog/understanding-digital-sat-curve-scoring-format

[Anonymous]

I don’t think they do equating for the digital ? That was the old paper scoring

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think they do equating for the digital ? That was the old paper scoring

I don't know for sure but that blog's title is about the digital test.

[Anonymous]

My kid definitely saw equating in action on the practice tests where 5 wrong in one test was a higher score than 4 wrong on another.

[Anonymous]

I really hope they’re equating because my child said the test was HARD!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid definitely saw equating in action on the practice tests where 5 wrong in one test was a higher score than 4 wrong on another.

That might not have to do with equating- that could be the result of harder questions getting more “weight” than easier questions on the digital version. It has to do with Item Response Theory, which is how they do these adaptive tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid definitely saw equating in action on the practice tests where 5 wrong in one test was a higher score than 4 wrong on another.

That might not have to do with equating- that could be the result of harder questions getting more “weight” than easier questions on the digital version. It has to do with Item Response Theory, which is how they do these adaptive tests.

This is what is frustrating to me. I see many discussions like this and when you go to College Board to check the facts - I cannot find it. BTW, what is the argument against fitting results to a normal distribution for each test? I may well miss something, but where are the facts and the underlying reasoning? There are millions taking these tests and yet I can't easily find out what they are.

[Anonymous]

Is SAT scoring expected to change substantially for the digital version? Does every student take the same version of the test? It seems like this could be very different from the paper test in certain respects.

[Anonymous]

The tests take into account how hard the questions were and how students of similar ability did on the same test. So it is not curved but normed/equated. -- work in the industry

[Anonymous]

But since the digital is new, can they still look at prior tests? Have the questions been used before or are they all brand new? It is frustrating not to understand how equalizing is going to happen, if at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But since the digital is new, can they still look at prior tests? Have the questions been used before or are they all brand new? It is frustrating not to understand how equalizing is going to happen, if at all.

I have to assume the College Board road tested thousands of questions on students before launching this thing...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DSAT is much shorter now due to it being an adaptive test. Lots of other advantages. ACT will need to adjust to be competitive

Not just shorter, but I’m hearing there is more time to complete the answers. Levels the playing field for all those who can’t afford a neuropsych eval or aren’t willing to game the system to get extra time.

Probably true. My DS has severe ADHD and gets extra time. Never finished the paper tests (really struggles with those darn bubbles), but doesn't even use the extra time on the digital. If he has to take it again, he may not request the accommodation because he was unhappy sitting around waiting for the next part. Extra time means you are sitting there stressed out longer with more time for your mind to wander, so it isn't always such a bonus.