SAT: Writing Is Essential

The University of Michigan welcomes the changes to the SAT, because the writing test will provide more information about students, giving colleges a better chance at making good-fit decisions. For many years, our faculty and administration have emphasized the importance of writing for success in college. The SAT change reflects that value.

As an admissions director, I believe that the more we know about a student, whether it's extracurricular activities, insightful recommendations or additional test scores, the easier it is to make the right decision, especially at a selective college. Standardized test scores comprise only one of many factors we use in making admissions decisions. But they do help us guard against the grade inflation we see at some high schools, as well as the wide variation of the quality of high schools.

We will be able to read raw essays written by students in a standardized setting. Unlike the polished application essays, the SAT essay will be a first draft, written under timed conditions not unlike the on-demand writing of a college "blue book" exam. It will complement the student's traditional application essay and give us a better, more complete understanding of the student's writing abilities.

Later on, as years pass and trend data become available, we will be able to use the writing score to help forecast a student's ability to perform in certain classes at the University of Michigan.

Though writing on the SAT is a new thing, the College Board has had years of experience in scoring essays and has put in place thorough scoring procedures. Each student's essay will be read twice, by two readers who won't know the other's score. And readers will be qualified classroom teachers and college professors who have trained using a common scoring guide. If their scores differ by more than one point, a scoring leader will review the essay. Readers will be monitored as they work to ensure that they are grading consistently. There are built in checks and balances.

In addition, the essay questions are carefully written and researched so that they will be equally accessible to all ethnic and racial groups, and they will provide students several ways to approach the topic. Students are encouraged to draw from personal experiences -- their reading, their studies, sports, the arts, anything that helps them develop a point of view on a topic and support their line of reasoning with clear and engaging examples.

There is another reason we are looking forward to the new writing score. While the numbers are still small, College Board data suggests a smaller racial gap on the SAT II writing test than on the standard SAT. It will be interesting to see if that pattern exists in larger numbers with the new SAT writing section, and if it can help us in our mission of attracting a more diverse class in a way that predicts success.

Years ago, when I was at the United States Air Force Academy, we used the Test of Standard Written English (TSWE), an all-multiple-choice writing assessment that used to be given in conjunction with the SAT. That test score would allow us to bring some students in who may have had weaker verbal scores, but showed promise on the TSWE, since it was sometimes a better predictor of success in class. The SAT writing section, which is both multiple-choice and essay, should perform a similar function.

As a public institution, the University of Michigan's influence extends beyond the gates of our campus. We care about what is happening in our nation's secondary schools, and we do want to look at ways to positively influence public education. We see the inclusion of writing on the SAT as one way to support teachers who are working to instill the importance of writing in their students. These teachers can say to their students, "Look at what it takes to go to college. Writing matters."

We hope the requirement will motivate students to improve their writing skills and gain a better chance at being admitted to their first-choice college. In the end, admissions officers are looking for reasons to admit students, and the more we know about their skills, the better.