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8th Graders’ Exam Is Delayed

Ohanian Comment: This could be listed as Good News: Schools don't fall for College Board's latest testing gambit.

Good quote from FairTest's Robert Schaeffer.

By Jacques Steinberg

The College Board said Thursday that it was putting off the unveiling of a new standardized test intended to help eighth graders prepare for rigorous high school courses and college. It cited school districts’ tight finances as the cause of the delay.

The exam had drawn sharp criticism from organizations like FairTest, a nonprofit that seeks to diminish the role of standardized tests like the SAT.

The College Board, which also oversees the SAT, announced last fall that it would begin offering the test, known as ReadiStep, this fall. It had described it as being for assessment and instructional purposes only, and not for any college admissions purpose.

“With the unforeseen challenge of the current economic situation, many states, districts and schools simply don’t have the resources to spend on new programs,” a College Board spokeswoman, Sheila Jamison, said in an e-mail message.

“When a large enough group of states, districts and schools have the resources that will enable them to launch ReadiStep, we will launch it.”

Robert Schaeffer, the public education director of FairTest, said the College Board’s decision reflected “the overwhelmingly negative reaction to this unnecessary new testing product among college admissions officers and high school guidance counselors.”

“They know that an additional exam would only push already rampant college admission testing hysteria down into middle school,” Mr. Schaeffer added, “with no benefit to anyone other than the College Board.”

— Jacques Steinberg
New York Times
2009-05-15


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