🥁 Axios PM: Disruption hits the SAT

Plus: Maine's rare visitor | Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Amazon   Axios PM By Mike Allen ·Jan 25, 2022 Good afternoon: Today's PM — edited by Justin Green — is 598 words, a 2-minute read.     1 big thing: Disruption hits the SAT Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   Digital disruption has reached the SAT, which today announced the most sweeping set of changes in generations. ✏️ Say goodbye to No. 2 pencils, unfilled bubbles, three-hour exams and waiting weeks for scores. 💻 Say hello to tests on computers, two-hour exams, calculators permitted on the entire math section and scores within days. What isn't changing: Students will be required to take the exam in a school or in a test center, and the exam will be graded on a 1600 scale, reports Axios' Erin Doherty. "In pilot runs that were conducted last year, 80 percent of students said they found the digital tests less stressful, according to the College Board, which said laptops or tablets would be provided for students who need them," the N.Y. Times reports (subscription). 🍎 The big picture: COVID dramatically loosened standardized testing's grip on admission for selective schools. Nearly 80% of schools no longer require standardized test scores, compared to 45% pre-pandemic, according to the anti-testing group FairTest. Harvard said in December that it will drop standardized test requirements for the next four years. Go deeper: Read the release.     2. The Beijing bubble Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios   Years of intense athletic training now boils down to one final test for Olympians: dodging a positive COVID result. 10 days out from the Olympics, athletes are battening down the hatches in hopes of making it within the Beijing bubble — the strictest ever created for a global sporting event, reports Axios Sports reporter Jeff Tracy. Athletes must test negative twice within 96 hours of their flight and again upon arrival in Beijing. A positive test will force them to stay home or endure a lengthy isolation in China. Keep reading.     A message from Amazon "Amazon's health benefits start the day you sign on the dotted line"     Shortly after starting at Amazon, Carlton found out he had stage four prostate cancer, and his health care benefits helped him receive the care he needed when he needed it. Why it's important: Health care starts for Amazon employees and their families on day one. Learn about Carlton's story.     3. Catch up quick White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki briefs today with a row blocked out for social distancing. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images Scoop: Former President Trump's elusive new social media network Truth Social is reaching out to internet influencers asking them to "reserve their spots," Axios Media Trends author Sara Fischer reports. Shortage alert: U.S. companies using key chips are down to a five-day supply, according to a Commerce Department report. Go deeper. Russia added opposition leader Alexei Navalny and several of his allies to the country's registry of terrorists and extremists, freezing their bank accounts. Go deeper.     4. America's kids get an internet librarian Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios   NewsGuard, which uses trained journalists to rate news and information sites, will become available to millions of public school students this week through a partnership with the American Federation of Teachers, Axios' Erica Pandey reports. Why it matters: Kids increasingly turn to the internet when looking for homework help. But unlike books in a library, online resources can be difficult to filter for quality and misinformation. "Imagine you walked into a library, and there were a trillion pieces of paper flying around in the air, and you grabbed one, and you didn't know anything about it, or where it came from or who's financing it," says NewsGuard co-founder Steven Brill. "That's the internet." What's happening: The AFT is buying NewsGuard licenses for its 1.7 million teachers, who will then be able to share it with tens of millions students. Share this story.     5. Check out this beautiful, rare bird A Steller's sea eagle seen off Georgetown, Maine. Photo: Zachary Holderby, Downeast Audubon via AP This beautiful bird doesn't belong in Maine, but is delighting Mainers nonetheless, AP reports. The Steller's sea eagle — native to northeast Russia and Japan — arrived in Maine last month after a brief stop in Massachusetts. It has stuck to Maine's middle coast, eating fish and ducks and attracting hundreds of bird-watchers from all over the world. Maine's lone Steller's sea eagle is an adult, and its sex is not confirmed. For comparison: A Steller's eagle is about twice as big as a bald eagle.     A message from Amazon Full-time Amazon employees receive a range of benefits from day one     All of Amazon's employees earn at least $15 an hour — and more in areas where the cost of living is higher. The company also provides: Health care on day one. Up to 20 weeks fully paid family leave. Free skills training for in-demand jobs at Amazon or elsewhere.   Like this email style and format? Bring the strength of Smart Brevity® to your team — more effective communications, powered by Axios HQ.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? 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