The new SAT is a different www. It is an achievement test that measures what students are already learning in high school and what they need to know to succeed in college and career. With the new SAT there is no penalty for guessing. Students no longer lose points for wrong answers. Gone are “SAT words”— words no one has seen before or will likely see again. Only relevant math concepts are tested. The SAT makes it easier for students to show their best work.

Too much of commercial test prep teaches to the test — looking for shortcuts and tricks to “beat” the www. The SAT in its old format lent itself to this approach. For many years, the College Board said that test prep couldn’t significantly boost scores on the SAT exam — even though a lucrative test-prep industry blossomed around the premise that it could. Now, suddenly, the organization is saying that, in fact, coaching can help improve scores — especially for those kids who use a free coaching program with which it has partnered.