As scores dip, Michigan law takes effect dropping essay from standardized test

Michigan no longer requires the SAT essay for high school juniors
Supporters say the change reduces testing and increases classroom instruction time
Students now control whether SAT scores appear on high school transcripts

Incoming 11th graders no longer have to take the essay portion of the SAT, which advocates say will ease nerves, eliminate unnecessary testing and provide more instruction time.

State Reps. Tom Kunse, R-Clare, and Matt Koleszar, D-Plymouth, co-sponsored legislation that took effect July 1 that modified the test that high school juniors take in the spring as part of standardized tests.

“It was putting our students at a competitive disadvantage against other states when it came to applying for college,” Koleszar said. “Most states have already abandoned this test anyway.”

Michigan was one of few states that still required the SAT essay. The College Board, which manages standardized tests, no longer offers the essay portion of the SAT because colleges rarely look at them.

“The SAT still does assess writing based on students’ comprehension of some written passages,” Koleszar said. “The SAT writing test does nothing to assess writing that colleges are looking for and that’s why they don’t even look at the score.”

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The law also prevents SAT scores from being automatically included on high school transcripts.

“During and post-COVID, almost every institution that is not an Ivy League institution or an incredibly selective institution is test optional,” said Jamie Jacobs, deputy director of the Michigan College Access Network.

“What we heard from institutions was, ‘We’re not looking for it but if we see it, we see it’,” she said. “We wanted to put that control back in students’ hands where they can decide if they want to share their test scores, they can and if they don’t want to share them, they don’t have to.”

Opponents of the legislation included the Michigan Department of Education, which supported removing the SAT essay from college transcripts but contended students need to be assessed in their ability to write.

State education officials contended the essay was a reasonable measure of students’ abilities to digest information and think critically. The SAT is part of the state’s mandatory Michigan Merit Exam, which combines it with the M-STEP test for science and social studies.

Opponents questioned dropping a test requirement when there is such an emphasis statewide on K-12 outcomes. Michigan ranks in the bottom half among states in college readiness.

Last year, the Annie E. Casey Foundation ranked Michigan 44th among states for education.

But supporters of eliminating the essay say it gives schools more time to focus on instruction.

“It’s important to learn how to write and educators have been saying for years, the best way to teach kids how to write is to give them more time for actual writing, expression and discovery in the classroom,” said Thomas Morgan, communications consultant for the Michigan Education Association.

Jacobs added that the change shortens the test from three hours to two, making it a better measure of aptitude and less about endurance.

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