Last run for current SAT this week; new one debuts in March

WASHINGTON (AP) — The current version of the SAT college entrance exam has its final run this weekend, when hundreds of thousands of students nationwide will sit, squirm or stress through the nearly four-hour reading, writing and math test.

Alex said his college adviser was worried about students being "guinea pigs" for the new SAT that rolls out March 5 and told him to focus on Saturday's exam.

Everything that's in the redesigned SAT is knowledge and skills that kids are learning in classrooms every single day.

Phil Pine, who runs the test preparation company, Capital Educators, in the Washington, D.C., area, says he's dissuaded his students from rushing to take this weekend's scheduled test since that version will soon disappear and they won't be able to take the same test again if they don't score well.

Down the road, though, Trout says more of his students may embrace the SAT, with its shift to test subject mastery and its similarity to ACT.

Some of the obscure vocabulary words that left kids memorizing flash cards for endless hours will vanish.

The College Board has teamed up with online educator Khan Academy to offer SAT practice with the new exam — for free — to all students through diagnostic quizzes and interactive practice tests.