The College Board, the non-profit organization that administers SATs, PSATs and Advanced Placement exams, unveiled a new test for eighth graders last week.
The exam, called ReadiStep, “is a paper-and-pencil test with three multiple-choice sections — reading, writing and mathematics,” College Board spokesperson Jennifer Topiel stated in an e-mail. The total test time is two hours and the examination allows 40 minutes for each section, Topiel said. There are no essays or student-produced responses.
Topiel said that the purpose of the exam is to provide an early assessment of students’ strength and weaknesses so they have time throughout high school to focus on specific skills that will help them to be successful in college.
Bob Schaeffer, spokesperson for the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, also known as FairTest, however, said the test only represents a way for the College Board to make money.
“It’s a cynical marketing ploy that serves no useful purpose other than fattening the College Board’s wallets,” he said.
Schaeffer explained that because of the No Child Left Behind Act, students nationwide are required to be tested in math and science every year starting in the 3rd grade, and in writing twice between the third and eighth grades.
“By the time any student in America finishes eighth grade nowadays, he or she has taken at least 14 standardized tests that have been mandated under No Child Left Behind law,” Schaeffer said.
Furthermore, Schaeffer said, the College Board already tests students on the same subjects — math, science, and writing — on the SAT, PSAT and SAT subject-tests. He said ReadiStep will just be a shorter version of the PSAT and will serve as a pre-pre-SAT exam.
Topiel explained, however, that ReadiStep is intended for eighth grade students, as opposed to the PSAT, which is targeted toward 10th and 11th graders, even though some schools are providing the PSAT to eighth-graders.
“Educators asked us for an assessment that measured grade-appropriate skills for the eighth-grade level,” Topiel said. “Using the PSAT/NMSQT earlier than high school is not appropriate, because middle school students haven’t learned many of the skills that are assessed on that exam.”
Greg Roberts, University associate dean of admissions, said he did not think the new test would be examined in college admissions.
“The eighth-grade record is so far removed from where they are as 17-year-olds that I cannot imagine any school looking back that far for [college] admissions,” he said. He did note, though, his concern about test anxiety and exhaustion among high school students.
“Students are getting so many tests: Standards of Learning tests, Advanced Placement tests, SAT subject tests and SATs or ACTs, among many others,” he said. “I think that’s what most would fear with coming up with a new test like this.”
But both Roberts and Schaeffer said standardized tests can help assess students on a more universal level and help students improve certain skills.
“Standardized tests have their place as part of a balanced assessment system, as one factor among many,” Schaeffer said.
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