Standardized tests such as the SAT receive a variety of criticism. One classic comment is that these tests just show who is best able to choose the right multiple choice answer. Who says that this is necessarily the brightest person? In the early 1990’s to partially address this critique, the Educational Testing Service sought to create math questions without multiple choices. However, the SAT exam does have to be graded by a scanner, not hand-scored. How could this be done? In 1993, we had the first appearance of the Student Produced Response Questions (students have to “produce” their own responses, not just select a choice). The answers to these questions would be placed in a new four-column grid. Each problem contained no multiple choices. The grid would provide a way for students to enter whatever answer they had determined. In the later SAT revision of 2005, 10 “grid-in” questions took their permanent place as questions #9 through #18 on the 18-question, 25-minute math section.
Tags: SAT Info, SAT Math, SAT Prep, SAT Preparation
Marty Rafson wrote the ESC math curriculum and has been an SAT math teacher, tutor, and curriculum developer for 30 years. He has been a high school math teacher for 36 years and a math department chairman for 25 years. He was also an adjunct professor at City College of New York School of Education.
