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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    What's Behind the SAT Overhaul?

    The Scholastic Aptitude Test administered by the College Board has no shortage of critics. The multi-campus University of California threatened to dump it in 2005, after which the Board added a written essay. Now, one of the latest changes will be making the essay optional.

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    The Scholastic Aptitude Test administered by the College Board has no shortage of critics. The multi-campus University of California threatened to dump it in 2005, after which the Board added a written essay. Now, one of the latest changes will be making the essay optional. Changes in the SAT were announced yesterday by David Coleman, who became President of the College Board in 2012. The "story behind the SAT overhaul" is the subject of a lengthy article upcoming in Sunday's New York Times Magazine written by contributing writer Todd Balf.

    The full episode

    3 of 3
    Obama's Budget and the Politics of Poverty
    1. 0:00Crimean Parliament Votes to Join Russia and Hold Referendum
    2. 8:06The Federal Budget: What's Important and What's Not?
    3. 43:51What's Behind the SAT Overhaul?You’re reading this
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Caitlin Shamberg

      KCRW

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Jenny Hamel

      KCRW

    • Sonya Geis with wavy brown hair wearing a black dress with red accents and decorative earrings against a white background.

      Sonya Geis

      Senior Managing Editor

    • KCRW placeholder

      Todd Balf

      New York Times Magazine

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    3 of 3
    Obama's Budget and the Politics of Poverty
    1. 0:00Crimean Parliament Votes to Join Russia and Hold Referendum
    2. 8:06The Federal Budget: What's Important and What's Not?
    3. 43:51What's Behind the SAT Overhaul?You’re reading this
    Back to To the Point