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Boston's Morning Newsletter
The SAT's pencil-and-paper era ends this weekend. Here's how the digital test will differ
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
Happy December. We’re feeling pretty festive, with the Common Christmas tree officially lit and the Holiday Pops kicking off tonight. Before you head off to make the most of this weekend’s dry stretches, let’s take a spin through the news:
Pencils down: For the last time tomorrow, bleary-eyed high school students will wake up early on a Saturday to take the SAT with a pencil and paper. Starting in 2024, the college admissions exam is going completely digital. “Students are now doing more of their learning and testing digitally, and the SAT shouldn’t be the exception,” Holly Stepp, a spokesperson for the test’s maker, College Board, recently told WBUR’s Carrie Jung. So, what will the SAT of the future look like? Here are the big differences about the app-based test:
- BYO-laptop: Students will still have to trudge into a school or testing center to take the test, and will be monitored by a proctor. But they have the option to take it on their own tablet or a laptop — or use a College Board-issued device. (Sorry, there’s no at-home exam.)
- It’s quicker: The new digital SAT will shrink from three hours to two, with shorter reading passages.
- It’s adaptive: That means the app will track how students perform to determine what questions they get later. So, both the math and the reading/writing sections will be broken into two parts, called “modules.” And based on how students do on the first module, the app will give them easier or harder questions in the second.
- The big picture: These changes come amidst a more existential change for the SAT. Over 2,000 colleges in the U.S. have made the test optional or removed it entirely from their admissions process. Still, Carrie reports 1.9 million students took the SAT last year.
The local angle: The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing a new rule that would require cites and towns nationwide to replace all lead water pipes within 10 years. WBUR’s Paula Moura reports it could affect “tens of thousands” of homes across Massachusetts.
- Zoom in: Massachusetts has some of the nation’s oldest housing stock and water pipes. And while the state is below lead action levels, many of the pipes that connect water mains to homes, businesses and schools contain lead. David Cash, the local EPA regional administrator, told Paula the new rule would help address this problem, particularly in larger, older cities like Boston. “We’re seeing these impacts more in low income and disadvantaged communities,” Cash said.
- What’s next: The EPA has asked utilities to map where lead pipes are located by late 2024 — which isn’t always a simple task.
So far so good? About a month after the city of Boston removed cleared tents in the area known as Mass. and Cass, there has not been any new encampments in the area, according to Mayor Michelle Wu. Yesterday on Radio Boston, Wu said “not having to focus all of our resources on one large gathering where there was so much need and risk and violence” has allowed the city to put resources into mobile outreach teams to “connect with folks wherever they are.” Wu said 73 of the 102 people who were living at the most recent Mass. and Cass encampment are now in low-threshold shelter and housing programs — though she cautioned those numbers are “very fluid.”
- Tune in: Listen to Wu’s full interview, which ranged from Boston’s winter plans to her thoughts on a guaranteed basic income.
Make your PD your DD: Chelmsford Police are teaming up with a local towing company to provide locals who have had too much to drink — and their cars — free rides home. Chelmsford Police Chief Colin Spence says the offer is open now through New Year’s Day to anyone in the Greater Lowell area who has drunk too much to drive.
- How it works: Just call Chelmsford Police at 978-256-2521 or Christopher’s Towing at 978-452-7433 to request the 24/7 service. The only rule is your car has to be operable; you can’t use the offer to get a broken-down car towed for free.
PSA: The Sumner Tunnel is closing to the final time of 2023 this weekend, beginning tonight at 11 p.m. Periodic weekend closures will resume in 2024, though MassDOT is still working on that schedule.
P.S.— The New England Aquarium recently welcomed two new animals from the Birmingham Zoo. What are they? Take our Boston News Quiz and test your knowledge of this week’s stories.
