Secondary School Admission Test

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The Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT) is an admission test administered by The Enrollment Management Association in the United States to students in grades 3–11 to provide a standardized measure that will help professionals in independent or private elementary, middle, and high schools to make decisions regarding student test taking.

There are three levels of the test: the Elementary Level (EL), for students in grades 3 and 4 who are applying to grades 4 and 5; the Middle Level, for students in grades 5–7 applying for grades 6–8; and the Upper Level, designed for students in grades 8–11 who are applying for grades 9–12 (or PG, the Post-Graduate year before college). The SSAT consists of a brief unscored writing sample and multiple choice sections comprising quantitative (mathematics), reading comprehension, and verbal questions. An experimental section at the end is unscored.^[1] The test, written in English, is administered around the world at hundreds of test centers, many of which are independent schools. Students may take the exam on any or all of the eight standard test dates; the SSAT "Flex" test, given on a flexible date by approved schools and consultants, can be taken only once per testing year (August 1 – July 31).

Although each year several different SSAT forms are utilized, the SSAT is administered and scored in a consistent (or standard) manner. The reported scores or scaled scores are comparable and can be used interchangeably, regardless of which test form students take. This score interchangeability is achieved through a statistical procedure referred to as score equating. Score equating is used to adjust for minor form difficulty differences so that the resulting scores can be compared directly.

The SSAT measures verbal, quantitative, and reading skills that students develop over time, both in and out of school. The overall difficulty level of the SSAT is built to be at 50–60%. The distribution of question difficulties is set so that the test will effectively differentiate test takers by ability. The SSAT is developed by review committees composed of standardized test experts and select independent school teachers.