After taking her sophomore year practice test in the fall, my daughter came home with her scores last week. But they included much more than the raw totals, which is the only thing I recall receiving during my high school years. This test, part of the newly revised SAT national exam that all students will be taking next year, now includes separate scores in critical reading, math and writing skills. The SAT also includes an essay portion, which is not given on the PSAT. These four sections combined no longer equal 1,600—a perfect score of 800 in math and 800 in verbal. The new total is 2,400.

What I found interesting about this revised standardized test was that each student received his or her test booklet back with the answer sheet. The answer sheet not only included the scores, but the likely range where a student would score on the SAT for that section, and the percentile they fell into on a nationwide basis.

The other aspect of the test that I thought was informative was that it provided students with a detailed accounting of whether they answered the questions correctly or incorrectly. And if the answer was incorrect, the right one was given.

The results also explained how many points were deducted from the answers that a student chose to omit. For example, in the math section there were a number of questions my daughter didn't answer because she hadn't learned the material. Most of the math is junior-year level curriculum, so unless you are taking math honors classes as a sophomore, there is a portion of the test material that would have not been covered in class. She skipped eight questions, but was only penalized two points. I know that students are told to skip rather than answer questions if they are unfamiliar with the material, but I never knew what that actually meant in the scoring. Now I know that if, in the worst case scenario, she had gotten all eight wrong, it would have had a far greater effect on her score than skipping them. Of course skipping too many can't be good either.

Now maybe it was too long ago for me to recall, but I definitely do not remember getting back my booklet and a detailed accounting of my results on the PSAT. I found this extremely helpful as my daughter and I looked at several of the missed questions together. She realized that in a couple of instances she was probably tired and just made an error. Those questions were often toward the end of a section. Others she said were written confusingly. That is something I definitely remember. And in other cases she really didn't know the answer. But there is a sense of comfort in being able to identify all this information and then know what to focus on.

There was, however, one thing that stood out after looking at all these questions. If English is not your native tongue, if you don't read on a steady basis, and if you don't develop a strong background in writing essays or even understanding them, this test is going to be a challenge.

As for its fairness and a true representation of what a teenager knows? Well, that definitely depends on how good a child's education has been from elementary school through 11th grade. This is something that should concern all of us as verbal and math skills in our state continue to spiral downward, along with the amount we spend to educate a child.

There was, however, something else that I thought was interesting. Each student's copy of the PSAT offered ways to improve one's scores. And a consistent comment that was written on my daughter's report was "Broaden your reading to include newspaper editorials, political essays and philosophical writings."

As a newspaper editor that made me smile. But even if I wasn't in the business that suggestion sounded like good advice, and something all of us could benefit from long after we've left the educational environment.

Moryt Milo is the editor of The Campbell Reporter. She can be contacted at 408.200.1051 or mmilo@svcn.com.