Reading Ability is Even More Important for the New SAT

Some more reason for Connecticut parents to nag their children about needing to read more. Reading ability is even more important for the new SAT. Reading ability has always been important for the SAT but now even more so for several reasons. While some students will rejoice that sentence completions are no longer part of the SAT, the change also means that there only reading – as opposed to vocabulary – will be on the reading sections of the new SAT. But that is not the big issue.

The new SAT essay, and oddly enough, the redesigned SAT math sections are the biggest reasons why reading ability will be vital for the new SAT. I’ve written earlier that the new SAT essay is not really optional for most students. Assume your child will have to take the test with the essay. The current, soon to be old, SAT prompt was a twenty word question along the lines of “Should one question authority?” The new SAT prompt is a two page reading assignment that calls for students to analyze and evaluate the text.

The new SAT math has far more lengthy word problems and a variety of problems that require careful reading in order to sort out what the question is asking. Strangely enough, good reading ability will make one perform better on the new SAT math.

Read. And keep reading. That’s always been good educational advice and now even more so due to the new SAT.