A Tale of Two Tests: The SAT vs the ISAT

To me, it's a no brainer to replace the ISAT with the SAT, but I think it becomes even more obvious why when you look at the two tests side by side.

Under Senate Concurrent Resolution 120, our legislature is now considering dropping the ISAT testing requirement in high school and replacing the ISAT with the SAT or ACT. As someone who has both administered and been tasked with preparing students for both exams, I wholeheartedly endorse replacing the ISAT with the SAT. The two main reasons we should do this is that kids can use their SAT scores for college entrance (while they couldn’t with the ISAT), but more importantly, using the SAT would give both students and schools access to a wealth of study materials and if schools were judged on SAT performance, we’d see scores go up. In order to understand exactly why the SAT is such a better choice than the ISAT, it’s important to examine the two tests.


First, the SAT takes less time to do and administer. The SAT (Standard Achievement Exam, taken around the nation) is a paper and pencil exam administered to students in 11th grade, takes about 3 hours to complete, and currently covers reading, writing and language, Math (Algebra, Advanced Math, and Problem Solving and Data Analysis). There’s a writing component we currently don’t use that would add 50 minutes to the exam. Each year, the test takes one day and is typically given in a school cafeteria or several classrooms. The ISAT (Idaho Standard Achievement Exam, taken in Idaho and probably a few other states under a different name) is a computerized exam administered to students in 10th grade. This exam is based specifically on Idaho Content Standards, and there are 5 tests students need to take: 2 English/Language Arts exams, 2 Math exams, and now 1 Science exam. It takes most students between 6-8 hours if they take all exams at once, and because the exam is done on computers, ISAT administration can tie up the school’s computer labs for weeks or even months.


Second, the SAT offers something for students while the ISAT doesn’t.
Colleges don’t ever look at state standardized achievement exams because every state uses a different one. At the same time, most colleges will accept either the SAT or ACT as a valid entrance exam, and the higher students score on these exams, the more colleges will accept them. We already require students to take the SAT, and I vote we require the PSAT as well. This 10th grade version of the SAT has an additional bonus is that it’s also the National Merit Scholar Qualifying Exam. If students do well on it, they can earn huge scholarships to college. In comparison, the ISAT offers nothing: it’s not a graduation requirement, gets you into no college, and doesn't even earn students a grade for their troubles. When we link school performance to ISATs, we are completely counting on the altruism of the students to do well on a very long exam to make their schools look good and there are no consequences for them if they don't care enough to try.


Lastly, (and most importantly) the SAT offers a wealth of study materials while the ISAT doesn’t. Khan Academy puts out excellent study materials on the SAT, so does College Board, and so does Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Google "SAT Study Materials" and you'll see what I mean. If you look it up, you can break the SAT down into every imaginable skill it tests, access hundreds of practice exams including actual past exams, and it’s very easy to weave this material into the curriculum of every course in your school. In contrast, teachers never get to see actual ISAT exams, and the study materials are 2 paltry 90-question packets (that don't have answers!) We can offer ISAT practice exams, but again, the teachers never see them. If you’ve ever tried to weave the ISAT into your course curriculum, what you’ll discover is that you just have to guess and assume that if you’re covering the standards, you’re covering the ISAT.


As you can see, the SAT is better than the ISAT in just about every way: It takes less time, there’s something in it for the kids, and schools can actually prepare their students for the SAT. To me, this is a no-brainer, but I think looking at the last point here is important. In a previous article, I described how we do the ISAT and basically how we educators are in the dark as far as improvement. Not so with the SAT. If we used SAT scores as an accountability measure, our school’s scores will definitely go up and here’s why: Unlike the ISAT, we educators will have access to actual exams, the types of questions that are asked, and we can weave these into our curriculums in every subject and course we teach. A building principal can say to her school leadership team, “Looking at our SAT scores from last year, the biggest issue our students are struggling with as a group is understanding words in context (one of the skills tested on the SAT). I’ve created packets of ‘words in context’ type questions, and I’d like to see questions like these woven into subject curriculum assessment in every department.”


If you want analogy, using the ISAT, you are trying to attain a target while blindfolded. If we use the SAT, we remove the blindfold from both the students and educators and give them an actual chance at hitting the target. I don’t personally believe that how students perform on any test is the ultimate end of education (Building student confidence is, and that is only done by having students overcome challenges...including but not limited to tests), but since standardized testing will probably always be one standard of accountability for schools, I think we owe it to students and educators to use a good test.

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