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CNN Live Saturday

Interview with Walt Haney

Aired June 29, 2002 - 17:15   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, high school students had about three years to get ready for the changes in the SAT. The College Board hopes to raise a nation of better writers by revamping the exam in March of 2005.

The verbal section of the SAT will become a critical reading exam. The math section will become tougher with the addition of Algebra II, and the writing portion of the test will include a 25- minute essay. That's really what's new.

And, how do college bound hopefuls feel about the proposed changes to the SAT?

Well, joining us from Los Angeles are two students, Nikki Nabavi is an 11th grader who already has taken the SAT, and Naazgol Eshtehardi is a 9th grader who will be among the first students to be taking the new SAT in its newest format in 2005. All right, thanks for joining us ladies.

All right, well Nikki, let me begin with you. You've already taken the SAT and you've even taken the SAT II, which involves essays. Did you feel more comfortable knowing that there was an SAT available - an essay, rather, available to you on your SAT exam?

NIKKI NABAVI: Yes, because I thought the essay would give me a chance to show my personality a little bit more through these tests.

WHITFIELD: What sort of questions were you asked on your essay?

NABAVI: On my essay, it was a topic they would give us. Like the topic we were given, there's always a but in a situation and they wanted us to explain this statement in -- using experiences and literary allusions and things like that, and to write a personal essay.

WHITFIELD: So do you think the essay gives the student a better chance in which to be a better test taker, not by only having multiple choice, you know, options for answering questions?

NABAVI: Yes, because a lot of people are stronger when they're writing essays and some people are weaker when they take multiple choice, because it's harder in the time period they give you and it's more stress, kind of. So a lot of people are stronger when they're writing their essays. WHITFIELD: All right, now here's an example of an essay question that would appear on an SAT, perhaps on the SAT II or the newer format.

Should a book, film, or musical recording be removed from a public library because it contains material that is inappropriate to some members of the community?

Does it concern you in any way that they're also kind of asking for your political point of view or do you worry at all that the people who are actually grading your exam may not be in total agreement with what your reply could be on a very personal question?

NABAVI: That could be an issue but I think it's a better choice actually because you can give your opinion. You can express your opinion and they can test - the people who grade the test can see that you have your opinion and how you state it, and it's a better judgment of your personal character, I think.

WHITFIELD: OK. All right. Now, Naazgol, you're going to be taking the exam, the newer formatted exam in about three years when you're in the 11th grade getting ready for your senior year and then off to college. How now can you prepare for this new format? It means that you're going to have to be a better writer, at least that's the objective, say the doctors of the new SAT.

NAAZGOL ESHTEHARDI: Well, I'm going to have to practice my essays a lot more.

WHITFIELD: So how do you do that? Does your school right now provide you an outlet in which to do more writing exercises, or are you going to have to finance that kind of studying outside of school on your own?

ESHTEHARDI: I think both, inside and outside of school.

WHITFIELD: OK, so you're prepared for that?

ESHTEHARDI: Yes, I like to write, so I'm kind of excited.

WHITFIELD: OK. All right, very good. Thank you very much Naazgol Eshtehardi and Nikki Nabavi. Good luck to both of you as you pursue your college endeavors and good luck on, you particularly, Naazgol, since you'll be taking the new SAT when it comes out in three years. Thanks a lot.

ESHTEHARDI: Thank you.

NABAVI: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, well one objective of the new SAT is to emphasize the importance of good communication skills, but will school curriculums change to help better prepare students to take on the new SAT? Walt Haney is a senior associate with Boston College's Center for the Study of Test Taking, and he joins us now from Boston. So, do you see that it's going to be the responsibility of more school districts to better prepare, make a greater emphasis on writing exercises to better prepare these students for a new SAT format?

WALT HANEY, CENTER FOR STUDY OF TESTING, BOSTON COLLEGE: Past experience suggests that the addition of the essay portion of the SAT will encourage more schools to stress writing, yes.

WHITFIELD: Well, how are you going to encourage these schools to do that? I mean is it going to be up to them to take the initiative in which to better prepare students?

HANEY: I think that schools that have large proportions of students heading off to college will just naturally adapt to the new SAT and it's clear already that the test preparation companies are gearing up to help prepare students for the new format.

WHITFIELD: So what is the impetus for the change? What is it that colleges may have been complaining about in the type of student that they were getting based on the SAT scores?

HANEY: I think the real impetus for the changes come from the University of California system, where the University of California President Richard Atkinson has been lobbying for some time to make college admissions tests more geared to actual courses of study instead of being pseudo I.Q. aptitude like tests.

WHITFIELD: Was cheating an issue as well?

HANEY: I don't know that cheating has been an issue in these particular changes, no ma'am.

WHITFIELD: All right, so are you concerned at all that there are going to be some students who are going to feel that if their families can't afford to get the college preparation courses, they really are counting on their schools to help better prepare them for the writing exercises, and if they're not doing that, if there are certain disadvantaged schools, then there are going to be kids who already have a disadvantage when taking this new test.

HANEY: Absolutely, but those inequities unfortunately have been with us for quite some time, ever since the rise of the commercial test preparation market.

WHITFIELD: All right, Walt Haney, thank you very much, from Boston College, appreciate it. And the new changes take effect the year 2005.

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