In a bid to satisfy critics including the University of California and advocates for the disabled, the College Board plans major changes to its SAT test—changes that Harvard admissions officers say will not affect how they use it in admissions.

The changes include removing “flags” on SAT score reports indicating tests were administered under special conditions to accommodate student disabilities.

The largest changes came in response to the University of California, which has threatened to stop requiring applicants to take the SAT.

The revisions were in part “business decisions” by the College Board, which owns the SAT, according to Director of Admissions Marlyn McGrath Lewis ’70-’73.

“California is a large state with many college-bound students,” McGrath Lewis said. “The SAT is a testing company and very concerned that they have the gold standard in testing.”

Beginning in March 2005, the SAT I will include a writing section, which will be similar to the SAT II: Writing test and will include an essay question, the College Board announced last month. Analogies will be eliminated from test and replaced with critical reading passages from a variety of subjects, including science. The math section will include more advanced topics from Algebra II and quantitative comparison questions will be eliminated.

“It shouldn’t be any less useful to us; maybe it will be more useful,” McGrath Lewis said.

“Research has shown that the addition of a writing test provides increased validity in predicting college success, but, more importantly, it sends a loud and clear message that strong writing is essential to success in college and beyond,” said Linda Clement, chair of the College Board trustees and vice president of the University of Maryland at College Park.

Some high school students said they agreed with the decision.

“Adding a writing section to the SAT is a good idea because some are better at writing than math and verbal reasoning,” said David H. Hsu, a rising high school senior and Secondary School Program student.

The other recent change—slated to begin in September 2003—is the elimination of “flags” on SAT score reports, which mark a test as having been taken under special conditions to accommodate students with disabilities.

Removing the flags will eliminate a double-standard that could be used to discriminate against students with disabilities that can be easily accommodated, supporters of the change said.

“Certainly students with disabilities who have a legitimate need for accommodation should not be punished,” said Cathy Horn, a research associate at the Harvard Civil Rights Project.

McGrath Lewis said the admissions office always appreciates as much information as it can get about applicants. Without the flags, admissions officers will have no way to determine the conditions under which applicants took the exam.

“We of course prefer more information than less. We are in the information business,” McGrath Lewis said.