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  • - Hello, welcome to our daily homeroom livestream

  • for those of y'all who are new to this.

  • This is a live stream that

  • we're doing every day as the name implies,

  • to keep us connected and answer questions

  • and figure out ways to support each other during

  • these times of school closures.

  • It's also a forum for you to ask me

  • and our guests questions,

  • and we're gonna have a really interesting guest today.

  • I will remind folks Khan Academy

  • we are not for profit with a mission of providing a free

  • world-class education for anyone anywhere,

  • and we're able to do the work we do

  • because of donations from folks like yourself.

  • So if you're in a position to do so,

  • please think about donating to Khan Academy.

  • I wanna give a special thanks to several corporations

  • that have stepped up in the last few weeks

  • as we see it our Costco hire, do the COVID crisis.

  • We've seen our traffic be almost three acts

  • of what it typically is.

  • A special thanks to bank of America,

  • Google.org, Fastly, Novartis and AT&T.

  • So with that, I wanna get right into the conversation,

  • I have a really great guest today

  • who's going to be able to address a lot of concerns

  • that I think are out there.

  • Lorraine Hastings is the vice president

  • with the College Board.

  • For those of you all who are not familiar

  • with the College Board, the College Board

  • is a not for profit.

  • We are partnered with the College Board.

  • But the College Board also offers the SAT

  • and Lorraine specializes in relations

  • with college counselors, and is an expert on all things

  • that are going on in the SAT right now.

  • I know there's a lot of questions.

  • And so first of all, Lorraine, welcome.

  • Thank you for being here.

  • I hope everything is good with your family

  • and this time of social distancing.

  • Maybe a good place to start is you know,

  • what's the lay of the land for those of us

  • who haven't been fully keeping track of what's going on

  • with the SAT with regards to COVID?

  • - Hi, Sal, thanks again for the invitation to join today.

  • I hope you and your family are well as well

  • as your colleagues.

  • The work you do at Khan Academy could not be more important

  • as it is today,

  • as we all learn to navigate this difficult time.

  • As the College Board responds to the impact of Coronavirus.

  • Our top priorities are the health and safety of students

  • and educators.

  • In face of school closures,

  • we're adapting to give students opportunities

  • to still show their strengths

  • and continue on the path to college.

  • We're working hard to make the SAT available in school

  • and out of school

  • as soon as the public health situation allows.

  • Right now public health officials have made it clear

  • that it is not safe to gather students in one place.

  • Many states have closed school

  • for the rest of the school year,

  • and globally there is widespread school closures

  • across 192 countries.

  • Last week, we announced that we will not be able

  • to administer the SAT as planned on June sixth.

  • If it's safe from a public health standpoint,

  • we will provide weekend SAT administration's every month

  • beginning in August through the end of the calendar year.

  • This includes a new administration in September,

  • and the previously scheduled tests on August 29th,

  • October the third, November the seventh

  • and December the fifth.

  • In the unlikely and I say unlikely event that schools

  • do not reopen this fall,

  • we will provide a digital SAT for home use.

  • We of course would ensure that at home SAT testing

  • is simple, secure, fair

  • and accessible to all and most importantly,

  • valid for use in college admissions.

  • I know that I've shared a few changes,

  • but Sal, even though it seems as if everything is changing,

  • there is one thing that's not changing,

  • and that's the official student practice available

  • for free anytime,

  • through our partnership with you all at Khan Academy.

  • - No, and this is super useful.

  • And so just to make sure that I understand

  • what the College Board's position on this is,

  • is as soon as we're through this stay at home order,

  • y'all are going to essentially offer the SAT

  • on the regular schedule thereafter

  • and offer a few more.

  • Hopefully you can kind of view these as maybe makeup.

  • So it's a monthly time period.

  • And so is your view that this will be sufficient

  • for guidance counselors out there advising

  • students or for students, parents, teachers?

  • How do you think this is gonna

  • affect the admissions process?

  • Do you think this will be students will have

  • an opportunity to get in there

  • and show that they're college ready on the SAT?

  • - Yes, as you mentioned, Sal,

  • you're absolutely correct.

  • Once we get back hopefully to the new normal in August,

  • we're gonna add a new testing date in September

  • which we have not had a September admin before.

  • And by providing monthly testing beginning in August,

  • we are confident that all students who want an opportunity

  • to take an SAT exam will have the opportunity

  • to do so throughout the fall,

  • take it more than once if they so desire.

  • So this once again,

  • as counselors continue to work with students,

  • they will be able to advise them,

  • what's the best administration's

  • they feel students should be able to take.

  • - And I wanna encourage everyone listening.

  • Feel free to put your questions on YouTube

  • and Facebook we have team members who are looking

  • at the questions and we're gonna be able to surface them

  • up for Lorraine or for myself if they're appropriate.

  • So there's a lot of questions and I you know,

  • I definitely wanna underline something you said.

  • You said in the unlikely event that

  • we are still in this crisis in the fall,

  • then y'all are going to try

  • to do a digital version of the SAT

  • similar to what y'all are doing for the AP

  • and in a few weeks.

  • So I wanna underline that's in the unlikely event

  • because we are getting questions around

  • what is that going to look like?

  • How are you going to prevent cheating?

  • Et cetera, et cetera.

  • But that I would guess you're still figuring out

  • if you even have to go there.

  • - Yes, and, you know,

  • a very unlikely event that

  • we have to do an at-home test.

  • Test security is, of course, one of our highest priorities.

  • And we're gonna design a solution that meets

  • our rigorous standards, we will have a comprehensive,

  • strict set of protocols in place to prevent

  • and detect cheating.

  • And of course, we can't share everything

  • we're gonna do because we need to maximize the effectiveness

  • of the things that we will be employing

  • to make sure that the test is secure.

  • - And I have a question from Facebook,

  • Chris Lee asked what about the SAT subject tests?

  • - So we had to cancel the subject tests

  • that were administered that were supposed

  • to be administered in June.

  • Those are some of the foreign language ones.

  • And those will be administered later on in the year

  • and the normal schedule of subject tests

  • in the fall will continue.

  • Those will be options for students and the fall as normal.

  • - And a question from Facebook, Julian Michael says,

  • "Do you foresee a move to digital testing regardless

  • "of when schools open?"

  • And I guess related, you know,

  • in certain standardized tests,

  • not that the College Board offers but you know,

  • I remember when I took the G math,

  • you know, many years ago it was it was digital back then.

  • Is this something that y'all are thinking about generally,

  • or maybe catalyzed by COVID.

  • - So, of course, we're going to once again

  • I want to continue to stress, Sal, what you said earlier,

  • unlikely event, we'll do this.

  • If depending on what happens in the fall,

  • we're aware that some places in the country in the world

  • may open and others may not.

  • So we are trying to prepare to address multiple different

  • scenarios whether it's a blended option,

  • we plan on paper and pencil continuing in the future.

  • The at-home is only in the unlikely

  • event that we are not able to administer paper and pencil.

  • - Yeah, and I'll just triply underline what you said

  • because we're getting a lot of questions.

  • But the questions are a good indicator

  • of how you know what people kind of latch

  • onto they are like digital SAT?

  • The SAT's changing?

  • What you're saying this is in the very, you know,

  • that's a reality where COVID and it looks,

  • you know, hopefully, you know, knock on wood

  • we have we have a handle on it now,

  • or it's at least hopefully peaked.

  • But this is in the unlikely scenario

  • that we're still in this full social distancing scenario,

  • August, September, October,

  • which hopefully is unlikely

  • so people should not index on it too much.

  • - That is correct.

  • We're going to continue to monitor

  • the situation around the Coronavirus

  • and we're going to USE whatever we learn

  • to inform whatever our approach will be in the future.

  • - Yeah, and I had this question from Facebook,

  • Makai Kiefer, and this is a question that I guess

  • is relevant even before this.

  • You hear things about schools being testing optional.

  • Many colleges and universities have stated

  • that they will not require SAT exams for students

  • applying next year.

  • Do you know how they will handle the situation

  • and how students without SAT scores

  • compare to those with scores?

  • And how would you advise students whether to SAT or not,

  • if and when it becomes available?

  • I'd love to your thoughts.

  • And I have some thoughts there too.

  • I'm happy to share.

  • - Sure, so once again,

  • many colleges are making decisions whether

  • or not they're going to be test optional in the fall.

  • Colleges are members of the College Board,

  • and we work with them, encourage them to be flexible

  • and different scenarios different situations.

  • As always, flexibility in the admissions process

  • is very important for students and colleges have committed

  • to take that into account.

  • They are aware of the circumstances

  • and the public health crisis.

  • And they will use that when they're considering test scores,

  • grades, extracurricular activities.

  • They are truly emphasizing flexibility

  • and that's what we keep hearing from them.

  • The best advice for students is always to reach out

  • to the colleges that they're interested in

  • and have a conversation with them.

  • Some colleges may not require the SAT.

  • But we're still encouraging students to take the SAT,

  • if possible, to help show their skills.

  • Because once again,

  • it's a part of many pieces that

  • go into the college admissions process.

  • And the stronger your portfolio

  • can be for college admissions, the better your chance

  • and likelihood of being accepted

  • at the college that you want to go to.

  • - Yeah, and I'm underlining some very important things

  • you're saying because what I've been telling friends

  • and family members and even some questions

  • on this live stream when I've had high school juniors

  • ask me what to do I said exactly that.

  • It's not that the SAT is just a thing that you have to do

  • because it's some ritual that goes on goes on in society.

  • Colleges are getting so many applications

  • they're trying to determine who's college ready,

  • who's not, who's going to be able to contribute

  • to the community in enriching ways.

  • And so there's a lot of things they're going to look at

  • to make those decisions.

  • And so of course,

  • your grades matter, your extracurricular activities matter,

  • your essays matter.

  • But the SAT and things like it are valuable

  • because it gives a read a signal that in conjunction

  • with all of these other things

  • do correlate based on you know,

  • the admissions officers

  • I've talked to with success in college.

  • And so I would say if you are able to,

  • and it's great that you're offering

  • these extra testing dates to take it,

  • because that's going to give you one more signal

  • one more data points to colleges.

  • At the same time, I would not stress.

  • In theory, you should never stress about it,

  • you should just do your best

  • and then see what choices you have.

  • But I think if you have the opportunity to do it,

  • but this is shouldn't be something that causes stress

  • because this year more than any year,

  • people are definitely very understanding

  • about being flexible about things.

  • But yeah, that was my two cents.

  • - And, Sal, I always like to remind students that colleges

  • need students to survive.

  • That's what they're there for.

  • So they are going to be flexible.

  • They're going to work with students,

  • and they're going to do

  • what's in the best interest of students.

  • - Yeah, and from YouTube,

  • this is a good question and act your future

  • asks "Will juniors who missed the SAT in April,

  • "have the test administered for free at their school

  • "during a weekday

  • "or will they have to take it on one of those weekend days?"

  • And I think this is hitting a point

  • that a lot of school districts

  • or systems will administer the test for free

  • during the week day.

  • Then the weekends are normally

  • something that the families have to pay for.

  • So how are y'all navigating that?

  • - So we will also in addition to this typical school day

  • schedule that we have in the fall,

  • which is around October,

  • we are giving schools the opportunity

  • for an additional date for testing in the fall.

  • So schools will have also an additional opportunity

  • to test students and the states and districts

  • that do it for free for students,

  • they will have that opportunity to do it this fall.

  • So they will be hearing more from their schools

  • and districts and even states

  • about what that testing schedule will look like.

  • - And from YouTube,

  • this Maciel Govender asked "what about

  • "the SAT for foreigners?"

  • Are they also wanna have access

  • to everything you're talking about in the US?

  • - So once again,

  • should it be safe to do so from an inner from a public

  • health standpoint, we're going to provide multiple SAT

  • administration's also for international students.

  • This includes the new administration in September,

  • as well as the previously scheduled test for August,

  • October and December.

  • This fall, we actually already announced

  • that we were going to add an additional opportunity

  • for international students in August.

  • That was pre Coronavirus.

  • And since then we have also added in September.

  • So once again,

  • that's there and then we are seriously also exploring

  • the possibility of even providing an additional

  • international administration day in the fall.

  • In addition to the two that we have already announced,

  • so absolutely.

  • Our international students are very important to us.

  • - And from Facebook, we have two questions,

  • one from Tracy McFadden and one from Katie Budinger

  • and these are essentially the same question,

  • which is, "how fast or will the will the scores

  • "be from the fall testing administration's?"

  • And I guess the obvious question, you know,

  • a lot of students would have taken it this spring

  • and then seeing their scores and said,

  • is this a good score for me to use for my applications?

  • So how are y'all thinking about that?

  • - So we absolutely want to make sure that students

  • have their scores and time to make decisions

  • to register for an additional testing

  • if that's what they need.

  • So we will be working quickly to make sure students

  • have this their scores.

  • - And one question from Facebook

  • zombie SMA says,

  • "why can't the SAT be administered in July?"

  • I think I know the answer,

  • but I'd love your thoughts, Lorraine.

  • - Well, once again,

  • we continue to look at what the health situation is.

  • Many of our test centers are actually schools,

  • high schools, college campuses.

  • And you know,

  • we still are not confident.

  • We don't know

  • if things are going to be available in July,

  • and we thought, you know,

  • August gives us a good safe distance.

  • Hopefully we will be past this crisis.

  • And the last thing we want to do is to have students

  • register for another test

  • that we end up having to reschedule or cancel.

  • So we're trying to just go with the safe option.

  • And following once again,

  • we continue to follow what's going on.

  • We monitor activities in the state across the world,

  • because we want to make sure it is absolutely safe

  • and secure for students to test.

  • - And from Facebook, Gabriela Saslogi asks,

  • "Is one date in August and September

  • "going to be enough given

  • "all the backlog of people wanting to take the test?"

  • So that kind of goes to a capacity issue, you know,

  • sometimes you can't find your date

  • because maybe it fills up at your local testing centers.

  • Are y'all going to be addressing that as well?

  • - Yes so two things with that, Sal.

  • For each administration,

  • we're preparing to significantly expand our capacity

  • for students to take the test

  • as soon as schools reopen.

  • We are calling on our member schools and colleges

  • as well as local communities to open their doors

  • and provide additional test center capacity.

  • So every student who wants to test

  • will also be able to test.

  • In addition to that,

  • students who registered for June

  • and also those in the class of 2021,

  • who do not have SAT scores

  • will also have early access to registration.

  • And we're going to get back to students

  • about what this actually means

  • and what they need to do.

  • But our top priority will be make to make sure that students

  • in the class of 2021, which are the rising seniors,

  • who don't have an SAT scores,

  • get the seat that they need

  • so that they won't have to worry

  • about not being able to find someplace to test.

  • - Yep and I think that's once again worth emphasizing

  • because there's other questions we're getting,

  • like from Facebook, Ilana Miller, you know,

  • suggesting multiple testing dates

  • and multiple testing even more than what you're already

  • offering is hard because you have to create new tests

  • and test securities.

  • But to your point,

  • people shouldn't be concerned about capacity issues

  • because that's in place.

  • So we have a question.

  • Let's see actually just disappeared.

  • But I thought it was an interesting question

  • around fee waivers.

  • You know, there's a lot of families going through economic

  • hardship right now who might have had, you know,

  • who might not have qualified for a few waivers a month ago,

  • but now, things have changed.

  • How are y'all looking at that process?

  • - So fee waivers.

  • We have fee waivers for students who need fee waivers.

  • Students should contact their school, their counselor.

  • We actually, since we know schools are closed right now.

  • So there's not the paper waiver that students

  • can get out counselors will have access

  • to digital Fee Waiver codes

  • that students will be used to register

  • and get their test fees waived

  • as long as they meet the requirements for fee waivers.

  • - Yeah and from YouTube Ashley Pascale asks,

  • "If a test is rescheduled,

  • "will students be able to apply the payment to a new date?"

  • - Yeah, so the June tests that was canceled,

  • students will be able to reapply that to a fall registration

  • when registration opens up in May.

  • - Okay, and there's a lot of. - If a student, yes.

  • Go ahead, Sal. - No, and related to that,

  • I know this gets into a little bit of logistics of it.

  • People asking questions about oh,

  • my March date got canceled

  • and they're thinking about things like refunds,

  • and, you know, I will go to your defense where I think

  • everyone is trying to process everything right now.

  • But what assurances can you give families

  • that no you're gonna be able

  • to get to it and everything will work worked out fairly?

  • - Yeah, you know,

  • we just asked just to be a little patient with us.

  • We too have been affected by Coronavirus.

  • Our customer service agents have had to find new ways

  • to work from home.

  • So things may not be happening as quickly as we would like,

  • but we are working on it.

  • And just work with us.

  • We're not going to disappoint you.

  • - Yeah, and let's see if I'm looking at the other questions

  • and so we've covered a lot of this.

  • Still more questions about the subject tests,

  • what specific dates they will be offered?

  • I guess, I mean, you already answered that to some degree.

  • - Yeah and students should go online,

  • the schedule is on the website.

  • But if the subject tests in the fall,

  • we'll have the normal schedule that will resume in the fall.

  • The ones that we had to reschedule from June,

  • as soon as we get those rescheduled students will know,

  • but we're trying to get those rescheduled

  • by the end of this year.

  • - Yeah, and from Instagram, we got this question actually,

  • this is a very relevant one

  • because we at the Khan Academy layer,

  • we've gotten certain questions

  • around this from even school districts.

  • This Instagram user says "I'm a junior,

  • "should I keep studying for the next SAT?"

  • And I guess there's two things in there which is,

  • you know, you got four or five months

  • until the August test date.

  • And then there might be people who are like, well,

  • I can do official SAT practice.

  • I can take practice tests but will the SAT look different.

  • What would you say to folks like that?

  • - We should absolutely keep studying.

  • I think, Sal, from your results at Khan,

  • we see that the more hours that a student spends studying

  • the better their performance on the test.

  • So absolutely keep studying whether

  • or not you know we have the paper and pencil and once again,

  • worst case scenario, we have to do an at-home SAT.

  • If you studying,

  • you will be prepared for whatever

  • form of SAT gets administered this fall.

  • - And I'll just double down on that.

  • You know, what I've been telling a lot of parents

  • and teachers and students,

  • especially students who are high school age right now

  • is one of the best things, people say

  • how should I use Khan Academy?

  • And on Khan Academy we have a lot of subjects,

  • going all the way to fairly advanced math

  • and science and all that.

  • But I've told high school students,

  • and as early as ninth graders,

  • if there's one thing that you know,

  • if you just even have 30 minutes a day,

  • 40 minutes a day, try the official SAT practice.

  • And it's not just so that you eventually

  • when you take the SAT you do well,

  • it's because it's actually making you ready for college.

  • It's aligned to the standards,

  • it's aligned with the skills

  • that actually matter for college.

  • It's math, it's reading and writing,

  • you can get feedback on writing.

  • And so if over the next five or six months,

  • you're able to put in 30 minutes, 40 minutes a day,

  • every couple of weeks, take a full length practice test,

  • I guarantee you I guess of money back guarantee,

  • it's all free.

  • So I guess I can't afford to do that.

  • But I will guarantee you with our reputation

  • that if you're able to put that time in you focus

  • on that practice that feedback try to level yourself

  • up on the various skills,

  • we have plenty of efficacy studies Lorraine

  • was just referring to that

  • show that that time put in really pays off

  • and we've seen efficacy studies that six hours

  • from the between the PSAT and the SAT

  • is associated with 50% greater than expected growth.

  • You can do way more than six hours

  • given the amount of time that you might have on your hands

  • between now and and back to school.

  • So I think the official SAT practice is a way

  • not just to do well in the SAT,

  • which I think it will help you there,

  • but it'll help you really thrive when you go back to school

  • whether you're gonna be a junior, senior,

  • sophomore, or freshman.

  • Let's see from Mazzy Guy on Instagram says,

  • "what changes will be added

  • "to the SAT course on Khan Academy?"

  • I'll take that, you know if the SAT is still the SAT,

  • what we're talking about this digital version

  • that we're talking about, is only in this very particular

  • circumstance as Lorraine just mentioned.

  • It's still going to be very much aligned

  • with what what you would need to prepare for.

  • So keep preparing.

  • - And practicing.

  • Sal, and I think about the practice,

  • it's just like an athlete who don't know when their next

  • basketball game is, but they're probably in their yard

  • or in their neighborhood still practicing free throws.

  • You keep practicing because the more you practice,

  • the better you're going to perform.

  • - Exactly, exactly.

  • And there's one question from Instagram,

  • which we've already answered,

  • but I wanna re-answer it

  • 'cause I think it's worth doubling down on.

  • "Are SAT score going to count for anything

  • "for next year college applications?"

  • Lorraine, you wanna take a stab at it

  • and I'm happy to answer it again.

  • - So yeah, yeah.

  • So once again, colleges are being flexible

  • because they too understand that there are some students

  • who are applying this fall

  • who won't have the opportunity to take the test.

  • So they're taking into account these situations,

  • but students should always reach out to the college.

  • If you can take the SAT,

  • you should absolutely take the SAT because once again,

  • with the portfolio that you have in addition

  • to your high school grade point average,

  • your extracurricular activities,

  • and whatever volunteer activities that you're submitting,

  • SAT scores will help colleges show the skills.

  • Some students and unfortunately, Sal, when students

  • sometimes hear that a school is test optional

  • or SAT optional, they feel oh,

  • I don't have to take the test.

  • And sometimes the more privileged students

  • still take it, still submit those scores.

  • And it's more of the underserved students

  • who don't have a counselor coaching them to say,

  • go ahead, take the SAT regardless,

  • even if it's test optional, take it and submit it.

  • So we really encourage you.

  • If you can take it,

  • please take it because it will do nothing

  • but help your portfolio and show a better presentation

  • of yourself to that college admissions officer.

  • - And I'll just add to that,

  • it's absolutely true that everyone is more understanding

  • and flexible right now,

  • especially as we go into next year's college admissions.

  • But I know that a lot of school districts have

  • had to do things like go to pass fail on their letter grades

  • in this in this current semester

  • because of the school closures.

  • And so that gives even less information for colleges

  • to make their admissions decisions

  • and so that you can imagine, it might if you can,

  • if you're in a position to do so it's it might

  • be even more valuable to provide those signals

  • of your your college readiness.

  • And testing, I've talked to college admissions officers

  • of some fairly selective schools that went testing optional,

  • but what they'll tell you is that still

  • a disproportionate number of the kids who get in

  • did take the SAT

  • because they still need to look

  • at that they need some form of a signal.

  • If you don't have something like an SAT score,

  • you're still going to have to have some other kind of signal

  • to the college around your college readiness

  • and how it actually might compare relative to other folks.

  • So high;y, highly recommend that if you're in a position

  • to do so, highly recommend to keep preparing.

  • So we're pretty much out of time.

  • Lorraine, thank you so much for answering those questions

  • and stay safe and healthy and glad to hear

  • that the College Board folks are trying to do

  • what they can to support folks through this process.

  • - Thanks Sal, thanks for having me here.

  • - So thank you, everyone,

  • for joining today's live stream.

  • We're always grateful to have guests

  • from some of our partners

  • to answer some of these questions.

  • I know a lot of folks are feeling a lot of stress now.

  • The whole point of this live stream is to try to de-stress

  • some of that.

  • And hopefully the takeaway to get from Lorraine

  • or from all of the guests

  • that we're having is we're at a moment in the world

  • where everyone realizes what's important

  • or starting to realize what's important.

  • And so, I would just emphasize, for folks

  • to do what you can.

  • Put the next foot forward.

  • Don't stress about it and things are going to sort out.

  • So with that, I will let you go

  • and I look forward to seeing all of y'all

  • on the live stream tomorrow.

- Hello, welcome to our daily homeroom livestream

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