The message is clear that writing skills are closely linked to success in college and later life. Seeming to recognize this fact three years ago the SAT was reorganized to include a writing section. But why is this segment of the SATallegedly “ignored” by colleges. Perhaps college admissions representatives are concerned that by its very design it fails to measure the writing ability most critical in college and later in the workplace–writing built on reflective thought both on the question and one’s answer followed by careful review of grammar, style and usage.

See what you think after you read these excerpts from an article by Charity Vogel in today’s  Buffallo Times entitled “Writer’s Block”:
… the newly revised [SAT] exam, now in its third year, includes a lengthy writing segment which tests their ability to improve sentences and paragraphs through multiple-choice question sequences. It also requires them to write an essay in 25 minutes.

However, many students are told outright by their high school teachers and guidance counselors that the SAT essay score will not count for much when it comes to college acceptances.

Experts on the SAT test concurred that students received mixed messages about the importance of the writing part, as well as about how to tackle it.

Nancy Berger at Upgrade Academics Inc., a tutoring and SATprep agency in Williamsville, said that many students approach the writing component as if it’s an assignment in English class. That can actually hurt their chances of scoring well, she said.

“It’s completely different from how they teach writing in high school,” she said, of the SAT essay and the way it’s graded. “That approach just doesn’t work.”

The SAT essay segment requires students to draft, in pencil and in longhand script, the first draft of a complete essay on an assigned subject. Essays are graded on a scale of 1 to 6 points by two professional teachers employed by the College Board. Colleges see both the score the student receives and a downloadable pdf image of the student’s written essay.

Because the time is so short on the exam, students need to walk in with concrete ideas of what they can write about, even before they see the essay question, Berger said.

She said students also need to realize they won’t be able to revise and polish their essays the way they are taught in high school.

Well…that’s important information to share with your high school students. As part of their preparation for the SAT they need to come up with topics that they want to write about and then “tweak” them to answer whatever question they get on the SAT…sounds like great preparation for a career in politics!