Several juniors shared their thoughts on the new class.

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State education leaders hope this switch to the SAT will mean that all 40,000 11th-graders attending the state’s public high schools take the test lifting the test participation rates for the Smarter Balanced test in all districts, including those where rates were very low. Many students refused to take it, saying that the Smarter Balanced test had no relevance for them and that they were already burdened with too many tests during junior year, including the SATs, Advanced Placement Tests, and for some, the ACTs.

To lighten that load and to provide students with a test that did matter to them, legislators pushed for the switch to the SAT for juniors. In addition, the hope is that some students who might not have taken the SAT, will take it and find themselves interested in going to college.

At high schools such as Daniel Hand, where only 14 percent of 11th-graders took the Smarter Balanced test last year, Principal Anthony Salutari said he doesn’t expect many will miss the SAT test this year.

Salutari said he told juniors: “I think it’s a mistake if you don’t take this.”

At E.O. He is concerned about the unfairness of using the SAT as a state measure when wealthier families can pay for test-prep programs that poorer families can’t afford.

The state has countered that the SAT now has an arrangement with the free online tutoring service, Khan Academy, that ensures every student, regardless of income, can get personalized help on the SAT and work to improve their scores.

In Hartford, some students at the Hartford Public High School’s Academy of Engineering and Green Technology say they have been using Khan Academy and have found it helpful.

For several years, the city has been providing students with a free SAT test in October of their senior year, as well as free PSAT tests in sophomore and junior years.

Colman Long, a school counselor at the academy, said the free PSATs and SAT has provided “a cultural shift in terms of the expectations for ourselves as a school and for our students.”

For a student who isn’t sure they want to go to college, Long said, “There are enough factors in life telling them ‘No, don’t try,'” from the cost of the test to getting a ride on an early Saturday morning to a test site.

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In East Hartford, Anne Marie Mancini, assistant superintendent of schools, said the state’s decision to offer the test for free was part of the reason the district decided to seek a grant to fund SAT prep for students.

Often, students at East Hartford Public High School have excellent grades and are involved in the school, she said, but their SAT scores aren’t high enough for a competitive college.

With the help of the Dalio Foundation, 50 juniors have just completed a nine-week SAT-prep course offered for free at the school.

Leon Agyeman, a junior, said she’s hoping the class will improve her scores.