Anemona reports in the New York Times that the College Board has abandoned its plans to deliver ((sell) an online SAT. More than 1200 colleges and universities are now test-optional. The University of California’s decision a few weeks ago to forego thevSAT as an admission requirement was a huge blow to the College Board’s business plans.
The College Board said on Tuesday that it would postpone plans to offer an online version of the SAT for high school students to take at home this year, further muddying a ritual of the college application process that had already been thrown into chaos by the coronavirus.
After canceling test dates this spring, the board announced in mid-April that it was developing a digital version of the SAT to be introduced if the pandemic continued to require social distancing in the fall, which would make it hard for the nonprofit organization to provide enough testing dates and centers.
But in its latest statement, the board said the technological challenges of developing an online test that all students could take had led to the decision to drop it. Some 2.2 million students took the SAT last year, the College Board said.
“Taking it would require three hours of uninterrupted, video-quality internet for each student, which can’t be guaranteed for all,” the board said, acknowledging the technology gap facing lower-income students, which could further exacerbate inequities in access to higher education.
The organization added that it would continue to deliver an online version of the SAT at some schools, but would not “introduce the stress that could result from extended at-home testing in an already disrupted admissions season.”
Bob Schaeffer, the head of FairTest, which is opposed to the use of standardized tests in college admissions, said the College Board was “simply conceding the inevitable.”
Its decision came after the organization had a rocky experience last month introducing a digital version of the Advanced Placement exams, which it also oversees. Many students complained that they were not able to submit their answer sheets electronically, and their tests were disqualified.
Mr. Schaeffer’s group and several students and parents have filed a class-action lawsuit seeking to force the College Board to score the rejected answer sheets. The College Board said less than 1 percent of students who had taken the test were affected.
The College Board asked colleges and universities on Tuesday to “show flexibility” to the millions of students who were not able to take the SAT this spring because of cancellations. It asked colleges to extend deadlines for receiving test scores, and to give equal consideration to students who were unable to take the test because of the pandemic.
The SAT’s rival exam, the ACT, said on Tuesday that it still planned to offer a remote option in the fall.
Considering the absolute cluster that the online AP tests were, this is a no-brainer. Kids on the Monday AP retake tests reported blank screens–no questions listed at all. And the College Board will STILL charge the kids for those tests, even if the tests were blank or the kids couldn’t submit the answers.
I hope College Board destroys itself with all of this.
Do you have any more info about these AP blank retests?
No. It didn’t happen to my students. I only had one student do the retake and I haven’t heard from that student if she had any problems. I am in a Facebook group of AP teachers for my subject, and several teachers in that group reported that their students reported blank pages. That’s all I know.
a good summation, really: greed destroying processes useful only to the greedy
ACT’s CEO is exiting because of revenue loss. Maybe David Coleman will decide to be like a rat and jump the sinking ship of the CB? It can’t be long before everyone catches wind that this has ALL been a con game. Standardized testing needs to die a fast and furious death!
“I hope College Board destroys itself with all of this”
Yes!
Maybe soon states will consider the inequities and reconsider giving Common Core tests online. And maybe the U.S. Congress will consider the inequities and reconsider mandating the tests in the first place.
I wonder if they will refund the money to those students who took the invalid SAT test this year?
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Lots of colleges have said that they won’t be accepting SAT scores for the next 2-3 years. Maybe this ship will just sink.
“Mr. Schaeffer’s group and several students and parents have filed a class-action lawsuit seeking to force the College Board to score the rejected answer sheets.”
That’s a 1,000 font size WTF statement.
Out of all the things that should be focused on “Fair(ly ignorant)Test goes after that aspect. Ay ay ay ay effin ay!
Scroll to 8:28 to get some love for teachers.