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As Illinois moves to the SAT, instead of the ACT, Fair Test notes that the 'New SAT' is the same as the 'Old SAT'...

George N. Schmidt - February 23, 2016

Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner appoints Chicago minister James Meeks to the post of President of the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). Meeks had been preaching union busting for years, both from his pulpit at his church and as an Illinois Senator. At one point, Meeks said that the "worst gang" in Chicago was the Chicago Teachers Union. Rauner found a kindred soul in the reverend when he praised and appointed Meeks to head the state school board.While Illinois once again juggles the Big Test, replacing the ACT with the SAT as the main college ready test for Illinois high school juniors and seniors, every clear evaluation of the tests shows that the tests are still as flawed as ever. In fact, the ruling class continues to change and shift the BIG TEST because the objective is not to have a test that is valid, fair and reliable -- but to have a test that provides a way of ranking and sorting teachers and schools, proving that the ruling class should fire some teachers and continue to close some schools.

FairTest: The �New� SAT Is No Better than the �Old� SAT, for further information: Bob Schaeffer (239) 395-6773cell (239) 699-0468. for immediate release, Monday, February 22, 2016

SAT �FACELIFT� FAILS TO ADDRESS EXAM�S BASIC FLAWS --

WEAK PREDICTION, BIASES, AND SENSITIVITY TO COACHING;

50+ SCHOOLS GO TEST-OPTIONAL SINCE REVISIONS ANNOUNCED

Saturday, March 5, is the first administration of the �redesigned SAT.� Though its sponsor, the College Board, is promoting revisions in the exam�s appearance, none of the upcoming changes addresses its key weaknesses, according to the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest).

Bob Schaeffer, FairTest�s Public Education Director, explained, �Even the College Board admits that the �new� SAT will not provide more accurate forecasts of undergraduate success. It will still under-predict the classroom performance of women, older applicants and students whose first language is not English. The coaching industry is already selling high-priced �test prep steroids� to teenagers whose parents can pay thousands to artificially boost scores on the revised exam.�

�The �new� SAT may look more consumer-friendly, but is not a better test,� Schaeffer continued. �The facelift is largely marketing bells and whistles. The changes seem designed to compete with the ACT, the most widely used admissions exam. The College Board also appears more interested in trying to slow the test-optional movement than improving the test�s measurement precision.�

Schaeffer concluded, �Higher education decision-makers increasingly recognize that neither the �new� SAT nor the rival ACT is needed for high-quality admissions.� Since the College Board announced the SAT redesign, more than 50 schools adopted test-optional policies. This month, a Harvard study encouraged other colleges and universities to follow suit. More than 850 accredited, bachelor degree granting institutions do not require SAT or ACT scores from all or many applicants. That list includes 200 schools ranked in the top tiers of their academic categories.

- FairTest�s directory of test-optional and test-flexible colleges and universities:

http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional

- Chronology of 140+ schools dropping ACT/SAT requirements in past decade

http://www.fairtest.org/sites/default/files/Optional-Growth-Chronology.pdf

- List of 200+ top tier schools that do not require admissions test scores from all or many applicants http://www.fairtest.org/sites/default/files/Optional-Schools-in-U.S.News-Top-Tiers.pdf

FAIR TEST ALSO PRODUCES A WEEKLY UPDATE ON CRITICISMS OF SO-CALLED 'STANDARDIZED' TESTING PROGRAMS. HERE IS THE UPDATE FOR FEBRUARY 23, 2016:

This week's stories from 20 states, overseas, higher education and even the world of video games again demonstrate the rising tide of the assessment reform movement. You can learn more about how to replace high-stakes standardized exams with performance assessments by signing up for FairTest's Sunday evening March 6 webinar.

National Register now for Performance Assessments Best Practices Webinar on Mar 6, 2016, 8:00 PM EST

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5841984926709877506

National Public Education Rallies Target Test Misuse and Overuse

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2016/02/17/parents-teachers-and-children-rally-for-public-education-at-hundreds-of-schools-nationwide/

National 70% of Teachers Say State Assessments Not Developmentally Appropriate

http://neatoday.org/2016/02/18/standardized-tests-not-developmentally-appropriate/

SAT Facelift Fails to Address Test's Basic Flaws: Weak Prediction, Biases, Susceptibility to Coaching

http://fairtest.org/SAT-%E2%80%9Cfacelift%E2%80%9D-fails-to-address-exam%E2%80%99s-basic-flaws

ACT/SAT George Washington Gets Record Breaking Number of Applications After Tests Become Optional

http://college.usatoday.com/2016/02/18/gw-gets-record-breaking-number-of-apps-after-tests-become-optional/

ACT/SAT Colleges Look to Change Admissions Processes

http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/making-caring-common-in-college-admissions/3197142.html

Arkansas Deja Vu All Over Again as Schools Face Another Testing Change

http://www.nashvilleleader.com/news/deja-vu-all-over-again-as-state-school-testing-faces-another-change/

California Parents and Educators Rally to "Reclaim Our Schools" From Testing Overkill

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Reclaim-Our-Schools-Rallies-Focus-on-Testing-369141531.html

California Campaign to Recoup Additional Costs Districts Incurred for Computerized Testing

http://www.plumasnews.com/story/2016/02/10/news/school-district-leads-statewide-effort-to-recoup-testing-costs/809.html

Connecticut Parents, Teachers, Students Plan Push Back Against Governor's Plan to Crack Down on Opting Out

http://jonathanpelto.com/2016/02/22/malloy-wyman-administration-ramp-up-attack-on-parents-who-opt-their-children-out-of-the-common-core-sbac-testing-fiasco/

Delaware Capital School District Restates Support for State Opt-Out Bill

http://delawarestatenews.net/schools/capital-school-district-resolution-on-state-testing-passes/

Florida Parents Send "Smell the Accountabaloney" Campaign Clown Noses to Legislators

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/school-zone/os-parents--high-stakes-tests-clown-noses-20160216-story.html

Florida What Test Stress Looks Like for Today's Student

http://www.wtvy.com/content/news/369299761.html

Florida Third Grader Tells School Board: Why Test Prep Makes Me Hate School

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/02/16/third-grader-to-school-board-why-i-cant-stand-going-to-school-anymore/

Georgia Teachers Push for Fewer Standardized Exams

http://www.11alive.com/story/news/2016/02/17/teachers-standardized-testing-senate/80522092/

Georgia The Story Behind an Unexpected Testing Reform Bill

http://getschooled.blog.myajc.com/2016/02/19/the-story-behind-an-unexpected-georgia-anti-testing-bill/

Indiana State Official Revised Report to Reduce Testing Criticism

http://indianapublicmedia.org/stateimpact/2016/02/17/independent-investigation-istep-independent/

Louisiana Charter Schools Tighten Test Security After Cheating Investigation

http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2016/02/new_orleans_cheating_plan.html

Louisiana Proposal to End Cycle of Tests, Test Prep and Cheating

http://louisianaeducator.blogspot.com/2016/02/report-to-bese-and-district.html

Maryland Educators, Lawmakers Support Bills to Limit School Testing

http://patch.com/maryland/uppermarlboro/s/fm82w/maryland-leaders-propose-limiting-standardized-tests?

Maryland Students Score Higher on Pencil-and-Paper English Exams

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/bs-md-paper-testing-20160223-story.html

Michigan School "Walk In" Supports Reduction in Standardized Testing

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2016/02/kalamazoo_teacher_walk-in_supp.html

Nebraska State Ed Board Questions Need for New Civics Exam

http://www.ccenterdispatch.com/news/state/article_5b6b85fe-1b18-567e-90ef-4ccbeb0164a0.html

Nebraska Changes Could Be Slow After State Assessment Trouble

http://www.ketv.com/news/iteam-changes-could-be-slow-after-state-assessment-trouble/38102522

New Jersey We Know Nothing After a Year of PARCC

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/opinion/editorials/2016/02/18/know-nothing-year-parcc/80571860/

New Jersey Hiking Achievement Standards Won't Improve Academic Performance

http://www.app.com/story/opinion/readers/2016/02/19/letter-hiking-achievement-standards-improve-performance/80604328/

New York Assessment Reformers See Opportunity to Change Board of Regents

http://www.wnyc.org/story/common-core-critics-see-opportunity-change-state-regents-board/

New York Federal Law Now Leaves Opt-Out Consequences Up to State

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2016/02/8591533/new-law-leaves-test-opt-out-consequences-state

New York Are Opt-Outs Pushing the State to Competency-Based Testing?

https://mets2006.wordpress.com/2016/02/19/are-the-opt-outs-pushing-the-state-to-competency-based-testing/

North Dakota State Weight Options for State Testing After Last Year's Botched Computer Exam Rollout

http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/news/education/3951444-state-weighs-options-standardized-tests

Pennsylvania Schools Face Challenges of New Testing

http://lancasteronline.com/alwayslancaster/schools-face-challenges-of-new-testing/article_7cb266a8-d4b0-11e5-8b61-ef7b989efc3c.html

Tennessee Public School Problems Tied to Over-Testing

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2016/feb/17/tennessee-educatiassociation-problems-public/350522/

Tennessee After Computer Testing Debacle, Student Scores Will Be Excluded From Teacher Ratings

http://tn.chalkbeat.org/2016/02/17/after-testing-debacle-tennessee-set-to-exclude-student-scores-from-teacher-ratings/#.VsTRhuZQcrU

Tennessee Questions Fairness of Test-Based Teacher Evaluation, But Does Not Bar It

http://tn.chalkbeat.org/2016/02/19/federal-court-dismisses-tea-lawsuit-but-questions-validity-of-tvaas/

Texas Superintendent of Year Says "I Have Given Up the Testing and Accountability Game"

http://dianeravitch.net/2016/02/16/texas-superintendent-of-the-year-tells-state-board-i-have-given-up-the-testing-and-accountability-game/

Texas Commission Studies Future of Student Testing

http://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/editorials/article61394777.html

Utah Test Scores Are Not a Valid Measure for Teacher Evaluations

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/3548377-155/op-ed-test-scores-are-not-a

Virginia Schools Back Testing Amendments

http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/news/schools-back-testing-amendments/article_5679e70a-a01c-5f1d-aac7-dc3ecff5d5c1.html

Washington Hundreds of Student Test Scores Mailed to Wrong Addresses

http://komonews.com/news/local/oops-hundreds-of-seattle-student-test-results-mailed-to-wrong-address

International How Finland Broke Every Rule and Created a Top School System

http://hechingerreport.org/how-finland-broke-every-rule-and-created-a-top-school-system/

International Why PISA Scores Are Meaningless

http://dianeravitch.net/2016/02/23/chris-tienkin-why-the-international-test-scores-are-meaningless/

Higher Ed. Colleges Move Away From Standardized Testing to Assess Learning

http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/colleges-continue-to-abandon-standardized-tests-to-assess-learning-survey-finds/108683

"No Pineapple Left Behind" New Video Game

http://subalterngames.com/press/sheet.php?p=no_pineapple_left_behind

Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director

FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open Testing

office- (239) 395-6773 fax- (239) 395-6779

mobile- (239) 699-0468

web- http://www.fairtest.org

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