@Plotinus It was not just parents. District Superintendents all complained as schools had been preparing the juniors for this important graduation requirement/state assessment since Fall. They were blind sided by the secret turnover happened during winter break. Most contract grabbing by SAT happened either during winter break or summer break when teachers/superintendents were off. I’ll dig up the Colorado news articles.
@skieurope Fair enough.
For others,
Peter Greene wrote a blog (not to be linked on CC.)
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-greene/)
“The SAT-- Worse Than You Think”
@Plotinus
Colorado story-
December 23rd announcement (surely sneaky first announcement during Holidays)
http://www.denverpost.com/2015/12/23/colorado-juniors-will-take-sat-college-entrance-exam-not-act/
http://www.denverpost.com/2016/01/07/2016s-11th-graders-to-stick-with-act/
http://gazette.com/confusion-ends-colorado-high-school-juniors-will-take-act-this-year-sophomores-will-take-psat/article/1567571
http://www.fowlertribune.com/article/20160123/NEWS/160129953
I found this link from the Denver Post, a news organization:
However, this story says that parents complained because their kids had already prepared for the ACT and were angry about the sudden, unexpected change to a very different test. There is nothing in the story about incorrect CB test construction procedures or defective questions.
@theshadow I did read the post about the gallon and glasses question. But it is difficult to verify whether the student is accurately reporting the content of the question.
I also found the following response to Alfaro’s posts from Alan Bernstein, a CB Senior Director:
“You make the claim that the questions on the new SAT are poorly written and ambiguous and you cite the June misprint as an example. The June misprint was from the previous version of the SAT, not the new version. Your evidence in this case does not support your claim. A plausible alternative explanation for why some tutors may be advising students not to take the SAT is that the College Board partnership with Khan Academy is making their work irrelevant.”
Since Khan Academy has now made the work of tutors irrelevant, why doesn’t CB allow tutors to take the SAT?
Of course it is…if both assessments are equal in the eyes of colleges, go with the cheaper assessment. As a taxpayer, I would expect nothing less (assuming a fair bidding process).
and btw, the assessment tool has zero to do with providing a “proper education to [their] students,” unless the Super believes that the assessment is measuring a “proper education.” (If so, he should be retired.)
Could have also been printer error, in that the printer dropped a few key words inadvertently. Yes, CB is responsible for printers that they hire, but in such a case, it would not be an issue with the test design itself.
@bluebayou This is a high school exit exam. Most kids do not go to colleges. ACT has been used for this purpose for 10 years.
The question is, was it a fair bidding process?
Are the two assessments equivalent assessment/measurement of high school education?
That’s besides the point. The ACT is a test for college readiness*; the SAT is supposed to ‘reflect’ first year college grades. If the state chooses to use it for an alternative purpose, that’s on them. (Personally, I support the idea of using a nationally-normed test in high school, but lets be clear on what the test is really for, and set ‘passing’ marks accordingly.)
See above. Beyond that, I would say that neither test is really an assessment of high school education, which is so much more. (Hint: history, foreign language, VAPA, and science are missing. And no, the so-called Science section of the ACT does not test science; its more a speed reading test of graphs and charts.)
I have no way of knowing. Do you have evidence that it was not?
*“The ACT® is the leading US college admissions test, measuring what you learn in high school to determine your academic readiness for college.”
http://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act.html