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That is true for adaptive tests that operate on a per-question basis. What I have read of the new SAT is that it operates at a session level. So if you do well

That is true for adaptive tests that operate on a per-question basis. What I have read of the new SAT is that it operates at a session level. So if you do well on the entire first session, you get a harder version of the next session on that topic (reading or math). Students should still be able to use the technique you mention to identify hard questions and save them for last.

Kon-Peki 3y ago
> What I have read of the new SAT is that it operates at a session level. So if you do well on the entire first session, you get a harder version of the next session on that topic (reading or math). That is positive. I've seen issues with adaptive tests not being resilient to accidents and brain farts: if a kid fat-fingers the response to a question early in the test, they may never get the computer to give them questions of a suitable difficulty later in the test. Thus they never even have a chance to get a score that accurately reflects their ability. If the SAT is session-based, each session needs to be large enough that a single question can't tank the whole thing, but at the same time there also needs to be enough sessions to allow for properly dialing-in the knowledge level. In reality, the ideal situation is that the test should allow for an unlimited number of sessions, but each session is time-limited. Something along the lines of stopping once the test-taker gets below a certain score on 2 consecutive sessions.
- gnicholas 3y ago
  > If the SAT is session-based, each session needs to be large enough that a single question can't tank the whole thing I think each session is either half or a third of the test, for that subject. There could actually be more than two versions of the later session, to ensure that a student who makes a mistake or two isn't prevented from getting a relatively high score.

Kon-Peki 3y ago

> What I have read of the new SAT is that it operates at a session level. So if you do well on the entire first session, you get a harder version of the next session on that topic (reading or math). That is positive. I've seen issues with adaptive tests not being resilient to accidents and brain farts: if a kid fat-fingers the response to a question early in the test, they may never get the computer to give them questions of a suitable difficulty later in the test. Thus they never even have a chance to get a score that accurately reflects their ability. If the SAT is session-based, each session needs to be large enough that a single question can't tank the whole thing, but at the same time there also needs to be enough sessions to allow for properly dialing-in the knowledge level. In reality, the ideal situation is that the test should allow for an unlimited number of sessions, but each session is time-limited. Something along the lines of stopping once the test-taker gets below a certain score on 2 consecutive sessions.

gnicholas 3y ago
> If the SAT is session-based, each session needs to be large enough that a single question can't tank the whole thing I think each session is either half or a third of the test, for that subject. There could actually be more than two versions of the later session, to ensure that a student who makes a mistake or two isn't prevented from getting a relatively high score.