Here's What You Need to Know: 

• The College Board cancelled the May 2, 2020 SAT and SAT Subject Tests.
• Makeup exams were also cancelled. Students who were previously registered for May will receive refunds.
• The College Board announced on their website that future SAT administrations are planned to run every month through the end of the calendar year beginning in August.
• Students may register for these tests in May and will be notified with an exact date.
• Early registration for future tests is also an option for students if they already registered for the June test and/or are in the high school class of 2021 and don't have SAT scores. 

What do future SAT administrations look like and will they hold as much weight in college admission?
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The College Board announced on Wednesday, April 15th, that they are working on an at-home, digital version of the SAT that will be used if the pandemic keeps schools closed in the fall. A part of you may be relieved, in all honesty, to not have to worry about reaching score goals at this time. Many colleges have already suspended the requirement for applicants to submit their SAT/ACT results due to COVID-19.

There is also a strong argument against at-home versions due to socio-economic inequalities amongst students as well as privacy and cheating concerns. For example, not all students have access to online resources and a comfortable and quiet place to take this test in their respective homes. Lower-income students already have disadvantages compared to their counterparts. The College Board has yet to announce how it will address these economic disparities.

For the latest updates on SAT administrations, please visit the College Board's COVID-19 update page.

We'd love to hear what you think about this current issue. Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Sources: 

Coronavirus SAT and PSAT-Related Updates. https://pages.collegeboard.org/sat-covid-19-updates. Published April 7, 2020. Accessed April 15, 2020.

Bennet, Kitty. "Students Might Have to Take College Admissions Tests at Home This Fall". The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 15 Apr. 2020. Web. 

"At-home versions of the SAT and ACT are being developed for high schoolers for the fall". The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 15 Apr. 2020. Web. 

A common challenge for many students in Algebra 1 is learning the concept of factoring polynomials. This brief lesson simplifies the process!

First, let's take a look at an example of a trinomial in the form ax2 + bx + c , where a is the coefficient in front of the first squared term, b is the middle term, and c is the constant. 

Say we are asked to factor the following trinomial:

n2 + 9n - 36

Step 1. Let's take a look at some factors whose sum is 9 and product gives us -36

We know that 12 * 3 = 36

BUT we have to make sure that our negative sign is assigned to the correct # to give us the sum of 9.

So, if we use -12 * 3 = -36, that works for our product
However, -12 + 3 = -9, so that is not consistent with our sum of 9

Let's switch the signs to see

So, 12 * -3 = -36 
And, 12 + -3 = 9

Step 2. Since 12 and -3 work as factors, let's incorporate them into our factored trinomial

n2 + 9n - 36
(n + 12)(n - 3)

Step 3. To make sure that you have factored correctly, multiply the new binomials to verify that you get back to the original polynomial. 

Feel free to ask any questions in the comment box below! Thanks for reading our lesson blog here at CZ Tutoring.