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Shorter Passages, Less Vocabulary, More Time:

TAC-Sponsored Johns Hopkins Study Details Changes in the SAT

On Thursday morning, Johns Hopkins University’s released a — sponsored by 91���� — that compares earlier versions of the SAT with the test as currently administered. “The College Board’s conception of college-ready reading,” JHU’s researchers conclude, “has changed.”

“The makers of the SAT seem to believe that the ability to tackle long and complex literary works isn’t an important skill for college students anymore. Sadly, given the state of modern higher education, they’re probably right.”

And not for the better, according to TAC Vice President and Dean Emeritus John J. Goyette.

“The makers of the SAT seem to believe that the ability to tackle long and complex literary works isn’t an important skill for college students anymore,” says Dr. Goyette. “Sadly, given the state of modern higher education, they’re probably right.”

The TAC-sponsored report — — compares SAT forms from 1980 and 1987 with a current College Board practice test. The authors document extensive modifications to the SAT reading section over the past four decades, most of which diminish the emphasis on students’ ability to read and analyze difficult texts. These include:

• Shorter passages, less than a third of their former length
• A sharp drop in the number of vocabulary questions requiring independent word knowledge, from 60 per test to 10
• The near elimination of argumentative and persuasive readings from the test, replaced by expository texts
• Replacing reading passages that assumed prior knowledge and understanding on the part of the reader with texts that reveal their meanings through contextual clues

 Vocabulary on the SAT verbal section, by form

“This shift is significant because reading, vocabulary, and comprehension are mutually reinforcing,” the study’s authors observe. “As students read more, both the breadth (number of words known) and the depth (quality of word understanding) of their vocabulary increase, which in turn supports stronger reading comprehension.”

For more than 50 years, 91���� has relied on the SAT to evaluate the aptitude and preparedness of its applicants. Yet since the 1980s, the College Board’s exam has undergone multiple transformations, leading College officials to question whether it still measures the same qualifications as in past decades — and whether prospective students’ test scores can be fairly compared across time.

“Since few colleges still ask students to read the great works, it is not surprising that the test has moved in the same direction.”

“We wanted to get a sense of the long-term value of the SAT as an admissions tool,” says Dr. Goyette.  “We also wanted to see what its changes can tell us about recent trends in American higher education. To our surprise, no one had conducted a careful, independent comparison of what the test asked of students then and now. So, we commissioned this study.”

The results were not promising for schools such as 91����, which employs a curriculum drawn entirely from the greatest works of the Western intellectual tradition — texts that are long, arduous, sometimes convoluted, and demand a strong vocabulary and ability to reason. “Since few colleges still ask students to read the great works, it is not surprising that the test has moved in the same direction,” says Dr. Goyette.

The study’s authors are careful to describe changes to the SAT over the last 46 years as a “redistribution rather than simple reduction” of demands, and they draw no conclusions about the various versions’ relative difficulty.

“This report is a content analysis. It tells us only what the test asks,” adds Dr. Goyette. “It does not, and was not designed to, tell us whether the test has become more or less difficult for students. Four of its five findings suggest that the newer SAT demands less of the test-taker, but the fifth, text complexity, suggests the opposite. We’ll let further research resolve that question. What these findings do confirm is that the SAT has changed in fundamental ways. What it now measures is different from what it measured in the past. And that’s likely because what most colleges teach — or fail to teach — has also changed.”

Passage length for reading questions in the 1980, 1987, and 2026 SAT practice tests  

Johns Hopkins researchers note that “the SAT is among the most consequential assessments in American education,” and that it “shapes what schools, tutors, and families emphasize, so a change in the reading section ripples back into classrooms.” As the most widely used measurement of prospective college students’ academic abilities, the SAT also presumably reflects the qualities or skills that most colleges deem necessary for success today.

“The SAT’s changes largely reduce reading and writing to the simple gathering and presenting of factual information, devoid of argument, emotion, or deeper meaning,” says Dr. Goyette. “At a time when machines are becoming the standard of intelligence, we risk relegating human intelligence to little more than another computing device.”

The , including methodology and limitations, is available for public review. Its authors recommend “a common-scale study in which the same students respond to items from both old and new forms, so that difficulty can be equated directly.” Says Dr. Goyette, “That is the study that would settle the question. We would welcome it.”