Posted on: Sunday, March 13, 2005
Students test essay skills in new SAT
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
Sweaty palm levels escalated to the clammy zone in Hawai'i and the nation yesterday as hordes of college-bound students — brains bursting at the seams with youthful smarts — trekked to learning centers to take the new SAT test.
Most of the moisture seems to have emanated from the palms of anxious parents, who waited for their kids to emerge after hours of mental wracking. When the students did appear, most merely shrugged and said it was about what they expected. A little something to do on a rainy day.
"Just a little longer. A little too long, I think, " she said of the test.
Meanwhile, moms and dads — many of whom had spent small fortunes on study guides, prep courses and sample tests — mopped their brows.
The new SAT had made major headlines recently because it featured for the first time a writing component: the dreaded 25-minute essay portion.
Andrew Shimabuku • The Honolulu Advertiser Sure, they were experiencing some new SAT jitters, but for Tawni it was caused by the vocabulary portion, and for Anita it was the math.
"But I should do OK because I studied," said Tawni, who took the old SAT last year, and, like Anita, attended a new SAT preparatory course this year.
"I'm ready."
When it was over, the two friends were all smiles and high fives.
"We're so intelligent," quipped Anita, as she gave Tawni a congratulatory hug without even bothering to ask how she thought she'd done.
Darrelle Glushenko, mom to Anita and Tawni, admitted she had been plenty worried about the essay portion — lately issuing impromptu writing assignments to both girls at the drop of a topic.
"I just think the more they know, the better," she said.
The new SAT is made up of three parts: math, critical reading and the writing section. While the old SAT had two components worth between 200 and 800 each for a maximum total of 1,600 points, the new SAT has a possible total of 2,400 points.
Chiara Coletti, vice president of public affairs for the College Board, which administers the SAT, said she has never seen anything in her career equal to the interest the new SAT has generated over the past three weeks.
She said almost all of it focused on the essay requirement.
"Our members are telling us that the level and quality of writing in this country is in serious decline on college campuses," Coletti said from her office in New York yesterday. "And because of that we added the writing test."
She said the extreme coverage came from the fact that journalists are naturally drawn to the subject of writing, and also because test-preparation organizations have taken advantage of the situation to generate even more news.
"I think the test-prep companies thought, 'Aha, let's see how we can exploit this — it's a new part of the test, and it's 45 minutes longer; we can really scare the kids and their parents now,' " Coletti said.
Ken Woods, chief of higher education services for the College Board's Western Region in California, said an estimated 7,600 Hawai'i students would be taking the SAT this year.
Woods said he did not have an estimate of how many took the test yesterday, but that the SAT was administered on Maui, Kaua'i and the Big Island, as well as at three locations on O'ahu — Iolani, Damien and Punahou schools.
"We know that more than 300,000 students took it nationwide, but we don't have a state by state breakdown," Woods said.
"I talked to a bunch of kids who took the test today out here, and it was like, 'OK, what's next?' "
But Anita Manuma said she knew exactly what's next:
"Party!" she said with a laugh of relief. "But first, let's go get something to eat — I'm hungry!"
And then, as she, Tawni and Darrelle Glushenko turned to walk away, Manuma added, with a feigned grimace, "I just hope that the results are good."
Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8038.
"It wasn't really much different than the old SAT," said Iolani High School junior Sarah Webb, 17, who calmly read a book as she waited for her mother to work the family car through the minor traffic snarl in front of the school to whisk Sarah away.
Sarah Webb
But Tawni Glushenko, 17, and Anita Manuma, 16, said before the test began that the essay part didn't particularly bother them. The pair of Saint Francis School juniors were among the 367 students from 15 O'ahu schools taking the new SAT at Iolani School yesterday.
Anita Manuma, left, and Tawni Glushenko congratulated each other yesterday after completing the new SAT test at Iolani School. Tawni's mother, Darrelle Glushenko, right, hopes all their studying paid off.
