SAT Score: Context > Content

Read a chapter, memorize the terms and regurgitate them on a test. It’s content-based learning at its finest and it’s standard practice in most schools. 

Much of learning is based on acquiring and retaining new content. For some educators, content is king. Their goal is to stock a student’s brain with as much information as possible.  While learning content is certainly a big part of education, it’s not the only part. Sometimes, context is more important than content. To truly learn, one must make connections across content to comprehend the context of a situation.  It’s a skill that the College Board feels predicts college performance and that is why many SAT questions are based on context more than content.  Take math questions, for instance. Rarely do you find a straightforward Algebra problem like “solve for x.” Instead, you have to “solve for x” in the context of a Geometry problem, or a word problem.  On the reading section, vocabulary questions require more than rote definitions. You have to fill words in the blanks based on clues that the sentence provides.  In other words, the context of a situation is more important than the content. If this were a math equation it would be: context > content.  Score more on the SAT by understanding that context, and not content, is king on the SAT.  Contact CROSSWALK to learn about SAT & ACT Boot Camps, private tutoring and other academic support.