Wednesday, August 01, 2007

ACT To Take Over As Top Test?

Is the tide at long last turning in the test wars? Will the ACT or the SAT2's overtake the number one spot from the SAT? Will the SAT finally go bye-bye?

Good grief ... let's hope so.

The SAT, now 80 years old, has already outlived its usefulness, and its welcome, on many if not most college campuses today. During the past 30 years, the SAT has been picked to pieces over charges of gender and racial bias, shown to be a poor predictor of success in college (the SAT's "raison d’être") and exposed as a seriously flawed and very coachable test by companies like the Princeton Review and others. Despite three desperate attempts in the last two decades to "improve" the SAT, complaints from students and parents continue to increase, bad news and reviews from school administrators, university admissions departments, and others in the education community cascade daily onto newspaper pages across the country, and everywhere people are wondering why we're all still chasing this bus.

The SAT2 tests, formerly called the Achievement Tests, along with the ACT, are top contenders to move into the prime testing territory formerly monopolized by SAT. Each of these challengers has its strengths, but either is a much better assessment tool than the SAT and could easily step into the vacuum formed by its impending extinction.

In Newsweek's August 21, 2006 issue, the magazine took a look at the ACT and it's threat to push the SAT clear out of the nest of college entrance tests. It's an excellent article, very informative, entirely interesting reading, and highly recommended for further information on this subject.

Read the full article here:

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