UC President Richard Atkinson says he is pleased with the decision of the College Board to develop an SAT I exam more closely aligned with what students are learning in high school.

Late last month, board trustees voted unanimously to adopt a new college entrance exam for use starting in March 2005. The new SAT:

• includes the exam's first writing test, with multiple-choice questions and an essay;
• replaces analogies with a larger number of critical reading passages;
• expands the math test to include topics from advanced algebra II and eliminates quantitative comparisons. The previous exam tested skills no higher than those used in algebra and geometry.

"We need standardized tests that bear a demonstrable relationship to what students actually study in the high school college-preparatory curriculum," Atkinson said. "We also need to focus student attention on mastery of subject matter rather than mastery of test-taking skills. The new College Board test will do an excellent job of fulfilling these goals."

In a widely publicized speech last year, Atkinson questioned the fairness of the exam and called on the university to drop the SAT I as an entrance requirement in favor of another test more closely tailored to high school classwork.

Since then, the UC Academic Senate's Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS) has been conceiving a new set of entrance tests and policies. The senate board is working with the College Board and the administrators of SAT competitor ACT to develop commercial exams meeting some of the university's goals.

Last month, the UC Davis Academic Senate's Representative Assembly voted to endorse the testing plans developed so far by the UC admissions board. The plans include requiring prospective students to take a core achievement exam in reading, writing and mathematics, and another in two high school subjects. The new exams also would be offered first in 2005.

"The College Board outline is very similar to what BOARS has proposed," said Academic Senate Chair Jeff Gibeling.

The UC board will continue to work with SAT and ACT test producers and evaluate their exams when they are available, said associate linguistics professor Patrick Farrell, who sits on the UC board. He said that he, too, was pleased with the way the College Board has revamped its exam.

With Academic Senate input from individual campuses in place, the UC admissions board this fall will work on developing specifics of its testing proposal, which could include the new SAT or a revised ACT. Then, the board will go back to the faculty on the campuses for an adoption vote.

"I think we are all in agreement with the direction taken by the College Board, but we don't know that until there is a concrete (UC admissions board) proposal out on the table," Gibeling said.