By Jack Stringer

With the College Board implementing several new changes and effectively revamping the SAT as a whole,

Following the College Board’s announcement that they would reduce the maximum score on the SAT back to 1600 as well as change basic focuses of the test, the CDE confirmed this week that a new test would grace the desks of Colorado students as soon as next Spring.

As class sizes skyrocket and more and more students are expected to graduate every year, the CDE has adopted a new outlook when creating this test. CDE officials say that the test will include a fresh design and several new components to better fit a changing education system.

The SAT has come under criticism for “dumbing down” the test, which is one critique that the new Colorado standardized testing program will not have to deal with. Going in almost the opposite direction of the College Board, the CDE has decided to implement a more difficult, longer and more focused test.

Starting in first grade, the test will now include an extensive essay portion where students must identify core elements of English literature. In order to emphasize the benefits to society of a populous that is well versed, this portion will include segments from Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Kant and other such authors.

In what seems like an attempt to bring Colorado students ahead of the rest of the country, the math portion of the exam will also be accelerated starting at a young age. To promote high achieving students within STEM fields, the test will contain a multiple choice portion that combines science, math, physics and technology to truly prepare our students for an increasingly technological world. A CDE spokesperson reported that this 500 question segment of the new test will be implemented starting in third grade to prevent stress and overworking among students at too young of an age.

This new test is intended to truly reflect a teacher’s ability to teach, as it will become the main factor in evaluating teacher performance from K-12. State funding will also be affected, as it will now be determined based purely on the performance of a school’s student body. This new process hopes to entirely eliminate any and all extraneous variables that may interfere with the true representation of a school and its faculty.

However, as standardized testing is beginning to come under fire due to overall ineffectiveness at showing intelligence or improving performance, an alternative to the test may be taken by those students diagnosed with test anxiety. In this substitute test, students simply have to detail—in either a verbal or written format—what kind of score they feel they should earn on the test.