U.S. SAT Exam Historical Changes

This paper attempts to research the historical change of the development and reform of the SAT, detailedly from the perspective of educational policy. It is on the basis of analyzing the historical development and change of the SAT, and organically combines the history of education research and policy analysis. It tries to analyze the changes, gains and losses during the development and reform of the test, and its enlightenments to our college entrance examination.The paper is divided into five parts:The introduction part mainly argues the theoretical significance and practical value of this paper, elaborates the writer's basic interpretation of domestic and overseas literatures about the study of the development and reform of American college entrance exam, and briefly introduces the structure and research methods of this paper.According to the change of the specific name of the SAT before and after its reform, the process of its development is divided into two main phases. The first chapter is about its first phase named "Scholastic Aptitude Test". The author firstly analyzes the social and cultural background and status of American education when it born, then explores how this standardized test generated in the reform and value conflict of Progressive Movement, tries to elaborate how it evolved and popularized.The second chapter is about its phase named "Scholastic Assessment Test". The SAT began to reflect and reform due to various pressures from the society and educational world in the 1990s, the new SAT came into effect in 2005. The author analyzes temporal American social culture and educational situation, discusses the reason and motivation of the reform, and then specifically analyzes features and changes of the new SAT, lastly discusses the situation of its implement.The third chapter analyzes the characteristics and prosperity of the SAT, as well as its main problems and controversies, consequently deepening the cognition of its status, influence and significance.The conclusion part of the paper is chiefly about the re-understanding of the examination and the significance of a unified entrance examination to a country and educational standards. Finally, the author probes into the enlightenments of the SAT to our college entrance examination through the comparison of these two different tests.