Gifted article
“Bring your own laptop” policy is absurd. Why can’t the College Board partner with a company like Prometric to administer the tests at dedicated (and secure) testing sites with computers, security cameras and resident proctors?
(The SAT is no longer administered in China because of government restrictions in that country. Instead, students travel to Hong Kong, Macau, or South Korea to take the test.)
Contrary to what the article states above, AFAIK, the main reason CB stopped administering paper tests in mainland China was that there were many security breaches, stolen tests, and other types of cheating.
And…my periodic reminder of how wealthy CB is (a non-profit operating as a cash cow, which is also making some employees rich):
Given the volume of kids taking the test, and the # of times they take it… test center administration would be nearly impossible. Going online seemed long overdue from a consumer perspective, but it was truly rushed on their end.
I don’t know about this. I have to take teacher tests through Prometric, and though the security is good (you can’t even bring your own snotty kleenex, ask me how I know
), it takes so long to get in/out, get scores, find open dates. And costs a fortune. I don’t think it could handle the SAT volume.
WRT the “non-profit” - I went to the AP Conference and it was kind of outrageous how overtly they’re going for more income. First with talking districts into huge AP programs for totally unprepared students (whose municipalities pay for the exams), then lowering standards when scores were concomitantly low, then lobbying state governments to legislate accepting scores for credit when universities didn’t accept the new standards for credit.
I actually asked the bigwig there, “isn’t this just obviously a money grab, the constant messaging that AP is for everyone?” He said, “oh no, every student in America should take at least one AP.” I said, “If AP is college-level, are you really saying that every student in America is ready for a college-level class?” He said, “I can tell you’ll be a thought partner. Let me give you my card.”
Then, and I may have told this story on CC, at the final session, the speaker really needed an AP Stats course. He was so excited to say that since a study showed that for every AP passed in the 1980s, a given student had better life outcomes - that therefore we just have to have more students take AP exams to bring them better life outcomes.


