SAT, ACT and College Readiness | Stop Common Core in Michigan

Many people believe that the ACT and the College Board are independent organizations working to adapt to the Common Core. That is not true. ACT, Inc. and College Board were both partners with Achieve in the development of the Common Core. Additionally, lead architect of the Common Core, David Coleman, currently serves as President of the College Board. They are not independent but integral to the Common Core and education reform.

Last week, the College Board announced the redesigned SAT exam. The ACT has been revising their exams all along to align with the Common Core.

SAT and ACT may appear like competitors in the testing marketplace; however, they are more likely comrades on a quest to build a national P-20 college readiness testing track for all learners. As part of the Common Core, two assessment consortia, SBAC and PARCC, were initially developed to design tests for participating states. But is that the long term plan, given that ACT and SAT were both key players in the development of the Common Core? Logically, one common national standards will eventually lead to one common national test.

Common Core advocate, Chester Finn of the Fordham Foundation speculated that Smarter Balanced and PARCC Assessment Consortia may not be around forever.

“I expect that PARCC and Smarter Balanced (the two federally subsidized consortia of states that are developing new assessments meant to be aligned with Common Core standards) will fade away, eclipsed and supplanted by long-established yet fleet-footed testing firms that already possess the infrastructure, relationships, and durability that give them huge advantages in the competition for state and district business.”

ACT and SAT are likely the “long-established yet fleet-footed testing firms.” ACT is now pitching their new assessment series, Aspire, as “Plan B” as the replacement for the SBAC or PARCC in Michigan and around the country.

Additionally, Cynthia B. Schmeiser former President and Chief Operating Officer of ACT, came out of retirement after 38 years at ACT., to take a new position as chief of assessments with College Board. The revised SAT is said to be more like the ACT. She also serves on the Nation Governors Association–Gates National Advisory Committee, among other committees focused on P–20 improvement.

The credibility of SAT and ACT has been in their ability to assess students and provide insight of college readiness. They did this based on years of historic evidence from students who attend college and take “college level courses”. Their assessments were an independent judge enabling parents, students and universities to see if a high school student is likely to be able to earn a B or better in a college freshman courses.

Now, these exams are no longer independent. Their credibility is gone. ACT and College Board are partners in the attempt to transform K-12 into a seamless P-20 system. A system without accountability or credibility. Coleman and his “partners” are attempting to incorporate and entrench progressive education in this P-20 system, forcing compliance from pre-school through university.

Education policy expert, Diana Ravitch has spoken against the Common Core and asks the question that should be on the mind of every parent in America, “Is there not something unseemly about placing the fate and the future of American education in the hands of one man?”

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Melanie Kurdys took at look at the new SAT and offered her comments in the attachment below.

Key shifts of the SAT redesign with COMMENTS

We will be hosting a conference call Wednesday March 12, 2014 to answer your questions on Common Core and Smarter Balanced Assessments, College Board, ACT, Inc. and all the other assessments that are being aligned to meet the Common Core.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014 at 10 AM (EST)

Dial-in: 1-857-232-0157

Conference code: 864556