Pittsburgh Public Schools picking up tab for SAT test

For the first time this year, Pittsburgh Public Schools is covering the cost of the SAT test for all 11th-grade students, who will take the test during school on Wednesday.

District leaders hope that by covering the cost of the test — which costs $52.50 for the regular version and varies for the subject tests — more students will be able to boost their scores and prepare for college.

“We want more students taking the test,” said district spokeswoman Ebony Pugh.

The district will spend about $101,000 to administer the threehour test for more than 1,600 high school juniors, who normally would have to take the SAT on a Saturday.

That amount also covers the cost to administer the Preliminary SAT, or PSAT, to the district’s more than 1,600 eighthgrade students for the first time this week. PPS for years has paid for all 10th- and 11th-grade students to take the PSAT in October.

“From a student perspective, it’s providing support for college

planning,” said Kashif Henderson, the district’s coordinator for gifted and talented programming. And besides giving more students the opportunity to take the test, administering the SAT for all juniors helps will help them sharpen their test-taking, critical-thinking and math skills in their own classrooms with their own teachers, he said.

Many school districts pay for all students to take the PSAT at least once, but PPS is among a growing number of districts that cover the cost of the SAT and administer it during a school day, said Maria Eugenia Alcon-Heraux, director of media relations for The College Board. Nine states and the District of Columbia cover the cost for all students, along with 250 school districts across the country.

Administering the test on a school day means more students take the test, and it eliminates a burden on low-income students, Ms. Alcon-Heraux said. It also means that students who have other obligations on Saturdays — the usual test day — can focus on the SAT in a familiar environment.

“All those obstacles are gone, so it’s just a much more comfortable experience for students,” she said.

Saleem Ghubril, executive director of the Pittsburgh Promise, applauded the district’s plan to administer the test to all 11thgrade students, adding that the scholarship organization has called for the move in the past. He said research shows that simply taking the test — regardless of the score — increases a student’s chance of pursuing post-secondary education.

“Just the taking of the exam expands the presence higher ed possibilities on a kid’s reality,” Mr. Ghubril said. “So we’re real excited about the fact that it’s going to be happening.”