Maybe those 1000 parents could contact the parents in Mongolia for advice on how to get the test administered better for them. So grateful most places have figured this out.
You do realize that the Bay Area is more than just the Googleplex, right? Have you ever been to East Oakland? The Tenderloin? Richmond? Or any of the many, many other places that don’t conform to your stereotypes of the Bay Area?
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Yes, I have been to all of the above. And even Mongolia ( but not Ukraine or the Congo, 2 places where the test is also given in multiple locations). Even within the US, places with far lower per capita incomes, like WVA and AL, manage to deliver the test, so I am not particularly sympathetic to one of the wealthiest and best educated areas of the country claiming they just can not do it without outside help.
I’m pretty shocked to see that people in the Seattle area are having issues getting a seat. I live there and never had an issue getting a seat in each of the 5 times I took the test. You just need to be watching for when signups start and sign up as soon as possible. You can’t wait till the last minute when it comes to this stuff.
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So far…We do not know if this is the first of other such events now that the test relies on WiFi access.
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Here is an excerpt from the statement from the college board…
“Student demand has exceeded capacity for SAT Weekend administrations in California’s Bay Area because of a shortage of high schools and other institutions willing to serve as SAT Weekend test centers. To accommodate students, College Board contracted with an outside vendor to set up and manage this administration and others at high-capacity test centers in non-traditional locations including hotels and convention centers, adding approximately 6,000 seats in the Bay Area.”
Based on this statement pretty safe to say there is plenty of demand to take the exam and the failure to administer the exam was the direct result of a failure of one of the enterprises they contracted with. The hotel venue was acting as their agent.
I suspect parents throughout the world would think that their obligations are to find an available test location and date, pay the fee, and show up. Beyond that not sure how a parent can be held responsible for CB picking a site where the exam was cancelled and no alternatives currently being offered.
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Parents in Mongolia are not running SAT tests, the only schools in Mongolia (and many other countries) that are sites for the SAT/ACT are typically international private schools.
There is not much demand for the SAT internationally, as most international college bound students are not looking to attend a college that uses the SAT in the admissions process.
Hopefully CB will continue to open/pay for additional test taking sites like they did in CA. I also expect counselors in other cities/states will want CB to take over that role in their area as well…because CB has the resources to do that, and many HSs don’t. I agree that more colleges should step up and be part of the solution regarding SAT/ACT test administration, especially the ones that are requiring the tests in admissions.
There have been other sites that have had WIFI issues and had to cancel a test since it went digital.
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Yes, another access issue, especially for relatively disadvantaged students and parents.
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While I am not an economist, when tests sites fill up within minutes of being opened, leaving people to go to great lengths to find a place to test, I think that signals demand.
Perhaps even more demand than Mongolia.
I’m not asking for empathy. I don’t think any parent here is. I think that the College board should respond to high demand in a different way than they have thus far.
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In many states, the legislature or state board of education responded to the demand ( democracy at work).
In no location is it guaranteed that the test will be held, and those upset about the wifi failure are apparently unaware of the dozens of cancellations which routinely occur in the US test centers due to weather, power, water breaks, etc. Not sure why this wifi failure is different
Do you have examples of this? I haven’t heard of any state boards or legislatures mandating HSs to run weekend tests due to increased demand? (noting there are states that require public schools to administer a school day test, which traditionally was not a demand response)
Seems any mandating of weekend test administration responsibility would run afoul of union contracts, at least in many school districts.
Agree
The numerous states holding school day SAT ( and the few holding school day ACT) are doing so in response to parental demand for it. Given that they are freely administered during the school day at the student’s local school, there likely isnt a lot of extra demand for additional weekend testing there as well there.
In many places, the local and state board of education is elected. Voters could elect candidates who supported either weekend or school day tests. Voters in my town would not tolerate difficulty in finding testing sites; there are at least a dozen sites within 10 miles of my home. If other voters feel differently, so be it.
Were you being rhetorical or sincere?
In Mongolia do they have elected school boards? Just wondering given you have referenced it several times and suggested it be a model for OP and others.
I am not aware of any new contracts that states undertook as a response to demand. Historically, the states that offer the school day test have done so because it’s part of their educational requirements and/or the tracking of students’ academic progress and/or for high school accountability reasons (built into union contracts).
Illinois has required the SAT for about 6 years or so, previously the ACT. Now back to the ACT next year. There is still a great deal of demand for the test on weekends, and it’s still competitive to get seats in the Chicagoland area.
That’s great there’s so many seats, even though many districts in Texas do participate in SAT School Day each year.
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In the US, local schools and elected officials are supppsed to be responsive to voter demand, so if that is not occuring in CA, there are bigger problems than test administration. If CA school, town, and city officials saw this as an actual voter demand, they would respond, right? They do respond to voter priorities?
Given Mongolia’s plethora of testing sites ( per capita), the system there appears quite responsive. All public schools should be accountable to their local populace.
I’m afraid the only conclusions are either 1. such school and local officials really do not think there is much demand; or 2. They recognize there is demand and chose to ignore it.
But those pesky union contracts.
I am not sure why you have chosen Mongolia, where neither the governmental structure nor the educational landscape is similar to that of the US. There are zero public school testing sites in Mongolia. Often and quite typically, non students are not allowed to test in the international private schools.
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Weekend test centers in the US are required to be open to all. Poor citizens often move mountains to get testing.
Amazing what can be done if motivated.
Or the obstacles one can find if not.
Many states have union contracts. And testing.
It really is ok to be ideologically opposed to testing or schools used for testing, but if so, there are tradeoffs.
I remain confused do you believe that OP and the other 1,000 kids who showed up for the test weren’t motivated? This thread is about OPs experience.
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Since the OP hasn’t been back and this thread is generating so many flags I’m closing. If the OP would like to reopen the thread they may pm the moderators.
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