Dear DSST families,
Welcome to the 2023-24 school year! We are thrilled to begin this school year with exciting and innovative learning on the horizon for students! We want to share some shifts for the P/SAT being implemented in the spring of 2024. The P/SAT exam -- administered by The College Board to all Colorado high school students to measure college readiness -- is taken by ninth-, tenth-, and eleventh-grade students for the state. Students also take the assessment to improve on scores from the previous year, submit for college admissions, or to compete for scholarships.
About the P/SAT
P/SAT is given in ninth and tenth grade and SAT is given to all eleventh graders. Prior to 2023, the P/SAT assessments were given in both Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) and Math. Aspects of Science and Social Studies text comprehension and analysis are woven throughout the EBRW assessments. The assessment lasted three hours and 15 mins and students were given a score for both sections giving a composite score ranging from 400 to 1600. DSST considers a composite score of 1010 to demonstrate “college readiness”. This composite score goal was set by The College Board and is also the score expectation for graduation requirements for graduates to meet in Math and ELA.
Overview of changes
- Beginning in 2023, The digital P/SAT assessments are substantially shorter - lasting two hours and 14 minutes for all assessments (PSAT 8/9, PSAT 10, SAT).
- Test takers have more time, on average, to answer each question.
- Students and educators will receive scores in days instead of weeks.
- The digital P/SAT is now an adaptive test.
- Students will be able to use calculators for the entire Math test. These calculators will be provided by DSST to students taking the test as needed.
Adaptive testing
The digital SAT Suite will utilize a multistage adaptive testing (MST) methodology. Being adaptive means that College Board can fairly and accurately measure the same things for each student with a shorter test while preserving test reliability. The assessments will be divided into two equal-length/time modules:
- Module 1: Same for every student. This module contains a broad mix of easy, medium and hard questions that allow students to demonstrate their achievement before moving on to the second module.
- Module 2: Adapted for each student. The questions in this second module are broadly targeted to the test taker’s achievement level based on how they performed in the first module. The questions are either (on average) higher difficulty or lower difficulty than the questions in the first module. This means that the test “adapts” to present questions that are more appropriate to a student’s performance level.
DSST will continue to ensure students have multiple practice opportunities throughout the year to help students prepare. As we understand this test more, we will continue to shape our assessments to be as aligned as possible. Families will have access to our yearly HS Assessment Calendar on our website to see when these DSST practice tests will take place.
If you have additional questions, please feel free to reach out to the college success leader at your child’s school!
Thank you so much for being a valued part of our DSST instructional community! Best wishes for a phenomenal school year!
Sincerely,
Dr. Keena Day
Vice President of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment | DSST Public Schools
