This is a bizarre and troubling turn of events. Several states have decided to use the SAT or ACT to meet federal accountability requirements for students. But neither examination has been validated for this purpose.
Catherine Gewertz writes in Education Week:
High school testing is on the brink of a profound shift, as states increasingly choose college-entrance exams to measure achievement. The new federal education law invites that change, but it comes with some big caution signs and unanswered questions.
The questions are hanging over a provision of the Every Student Succeeds Act that lets states measure high school achievement with college-entrance exams instead of standards-based assessments.
If many states make that change, it would represent an important national shift in the meaning of high school testing, assessment experts say.
That’s because most states’ current tests are based on their academic standards and are built to measure mastery of those standards. Moving to a college-entrance exam such as the SAT or ACT, which are designed to predict the likelihood of students’ success in college, would mean that states had chosen instead to measure college readiness.
“It’s a really big shift,” said Wayne Camara, who helped design the SAT and oversaw research at the College Board for two decades before taking a similar post at ACT in 2014. “States need to think about what they want their accountability system to measure and choose the test best suited for that. Ultimately, it’s a judgment. It depends on what you value most.”
She reports that seven states have gained permission from the U.S. Department of Education to use one of the two exams for federal accountability, and a large number of others are considering the same move.
How well a national exam can reflect state standards is a central—and unanswered—question in the use of college-entrance exams for accountability purposes.
FairTest, a group that opposes standardized testing, warned that that provision in the new law “must be treated with caution; those tests are no better educationally than existing state tests, and they have not been validated to assess high school academic performance.” The college-entrance exams have long been criticized, too, as biased in favor of wealthier students from college-educated families.
Sound assessment practice requires that a test be validated for its specific intended use. But there are no independent research studies analyzing how well the newest versions of the SAT or ACT reflect the depth and breadth of the Common Core State Standards, which are used by more than 40 states. States that use other standards would have to obtain their own “alignment” studies.
Without that kind of evidence, testing experts said, states are on shaky ground if they use a college-entrance exam to measure mastery of their content standards.
“How can a state tell teachers to teach the standards, and then use a test that hasn’t been proven to align [to them]?” said Scott F. Marion, the executive director of the Center for Assessment, which helps states design testing systems. “It’s a major problem. It’s like a bait-and-switch.”
This is a big win for the Common Core, since both the SAT and ACT determined to align with the new and unproven standards. It is also a big win for the corporations that own the SAT and the ACT, which will clean up as they build their market share.
It is a huge loss for students who are not the best and brightest, who have always faltered on these tests of college-readiness. When they fail, as they will, what will our society do with them? Will they still be eligible for a high school diploma? Will they drop out and join the ranks of the unemployed and hopeless?
What we know about the SAT, and every other standardized test, is that they effectively replicate family income. The wealthiest students get the highest scores, and the poorest get the lowest. In addition, the families with means hire SAT or ACT tutors, adding to their initial advantage.
Once again, tests are in the saddle, determining what will be taught. In a sane world, the tests are based on the curriculum; in this not-so-brave new world, the tests will drive the curriculum. And predictably, the kids with the least advantage will be punished by stupid policy.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
” Several states have decided to use the SAT or ACT to meet federal accountability requirements for students. But neither examination has been validated for this purpose.”
But David Coleman (in charge of SAT at College Board) was Validictatorian at his high school.
Isn’t that enough?
Hmmm….what about kids that won’t go to college but are career ready and decide to go to work? How about schools that don’t require SAT/ACT scores???
Not to mention al the other relevant data like the tests are biased, they are not meant to measure accountability and, other issues that may come up???
These are the types of decisions we get from education that has become so politicized that evidence and reason are no longer weighed in decisions. The policymakers jump on and off bandwagons while students, teachers, schools and districts become guinea pigs. Our leaders, under the influence of billionaires and corporations, have thrown caution to the wind. Students are treated like pancakes. If you burn a batch, you can toss them out and hope the next batch turns out better. Under the weighty influence of money and power, policymakers have become cavalier toward their responsibilities to children and families.
If you don’t mind my stealing the image
“Children are like Pancakes’
Children are like pancakes
Burn a batch and toss ’em
For billionaire and pol sakes
Turn ’em out and boss ’em
“Reasoning with the Unreasonable”
Reason only works
With reasonable folks
It doesn’t work with jerks
And doesn’t work with jokes
It doesn’t work on those
With evil moneyvations
Unreasonable to suppose
That reason rules relations
Using scores of the Common Core aligned SAT or ACT to determine program accountability is an astonishingly bad idea. This will not end well for the vast majority of students that reside in Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, and New Hampshire (SAT) and Arkansas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming (ACT).
The original tests did not come close to achieving their intended purpose. And now the new and untested CC versions will be used for an unintended purpose? Not sure if we were pushed down the rabbit hole or pulled through the looking glass, but escape is seeming unlikely for this generation of children.
Good one. Diane! Yes, this is more than BIZZARE! I say, “Puke!” Follow the $$$$$.
Diane, I really hate to ruin your night. I know how you just love, love, love that great standardized tests used to sample performance around the US – the great NAEP. Are scores simply a measure of financial income on this test?
Unlike the SAT and College Board, who realized how problematic these facts could be, the gov’t published what’s known as “crosstab” reports (that BI speak for showing multiple variables on the same table). That means you can dive down into the scores by race, FRL and parents’ education. And surprise, surprise, surprise… your claims are totally incorrect. Here are some facts based on the 2015 reading scores for 8th graders:
1. Among college graduates, white/Asian students eligible for free & reduced lunch scored better compared to African American students who were not eligible for FRL
2. White/Asian students eligible for free & reduced lunch whose parents did not finsih high school scored better compared to African American students who were eligible for FRL and graduated from college!!!
3. In fact, Asian students eligible for FRL whose parents didn’t even finish high school scored better compared to Hispanic students whose parents graduated high school and who were not eligible for FRL
These tests do measure aptitude. They do not measure family income. The latter is largely a result of the former. Something about causation/correlation…. I guess there’s just no discrimination against poor Asians whose parents didn’t graduate high school but tremendous discrimination against middle/upper class Hispanics who did graduate from high school. But it’s probably a bad idea to align high school graduation reqts to the SAT/ACT.
Virginia, all standardized tests are highly correlated with family income. Including NAEP. The only difference is that no one can teach to NAEP because it is given on a sampling basis and no one knows how to prep for it.
Ha! A STEM freak like yourself trying to make a statistical case using a qualitative argument?
. . . scored “better” ????????
That the best you got?
In addition, your argument fails to take into account the debilitating effects of racism
The question you should have asked ,Virginiasgp, is why Asian students score well regardless of their relative economic status. There are a few potential conclusions which could be drawn from such data. Perhaps as whole they are just plain academically smarter than most of us. Or perhaps their parents place an extremely high value on academic performance and enforce particular standards of study. Then again, maybe they spend a lot of time learning in a way that is conducive to producing high test scores. Then you should ask if Asian students of a higher economic status do better than those of a lower status. I’m sure there are other questions that should be asked as well before we make any blanket statements about how different groups perform. None of this discussion negates the fact that for the whole population, higher socioeconomic status is correlated with higher test scores.
I acknowledge the numerous issues with a reliance on standardized test scores for college placement.
However, as a teacher in a state that has switched from PARCC to ACT Aspire, much prefer the latter. At least now we can focus more of our resources towards preparing our students for a test that will actually impact their future [the ACT] rather than one that will just be used to further demonize schools and teachers.
I wish we lived in a world where the ACT didn’t matter as much as it currently does for our students, but I don’t see that changing any time soon–so I would much rather throw my weight behind preparing them rather than distracting them with another harmful testing process.
You make an excellent point IF the majority of students are college bound. There are many city and rural schools in those 7 states where the majority of students are not college bound; in these schools, what is the point?
The number of higher education institutions that have switched from requiring SAT/ACT scores to making these scores optional (or unwanted) for college admission has been growing yearly. (I recall seeing a list recently of over 800 schools that no longer require either of these tests.) That fact alone should give school districts pause; if the tests don’t adequately meet the needs of college admissions staffs, why & how could they provide value to high school evaluators?
This point exists independently of the fact that the SAT & ACT were neither designed nor validated for measuring high school success or proficiency in any subject. Furthermore, these tests have been criticized in the past for being culturally biased, which also lessens their ability to be equitable assessments of any diverse population.
For many years, I’ve heard admissions officers state that their staffs weighed applicants’ high school grades as the most important factor in assessing prospective students’ likelihood of success in college. Presumably, they are using that data because such information better predicts college success and graduation rates than the standardized tests do.
This whole idea just sounds like another one of countless many generated by people who don’t know at all what they’re talking about but who want to be seen as doing something for K-12 public education. Unfortunately, all *I* see is destruction
The ACT is the easiest standardized test to improve particularly for traditionally struggling students. As an administrator I developed a very specific 6-week intervention based on my understanding of fluency, comprehension and skills versus content. While the test was the vehicle, our students became better readers and problem solvers. Teachers’ beliefs began to change about the ability to impact their students. I also added a motivational layer using the idea of short-term wins to teach teachers and students to have a growth mindset. Now I am working as an assistant professor in a university, I am working with schools with high rates of poverty to help them use this intervention to help students and teachers. I would rather deal with ACT once in high school than have our whole world focused around a variety of ever-changing tests every day, every week, every year.
I don’t believe ACT predicts success in college as I have too many stories showing otherwise, but I do know teaching students to overcome problems by being reflective learners does have an impact. No matter what we think, politicians will require some sort of test. I like the beast students have a chance to conquer over the constantly changing rotation of beasts no one understands.