Attention: Juniors & Seniors – Latest on Standardized Testing
Dear Parents:
The Covid-19 virus has wreaked havoc on so many things this spring, but for our high school students planning for college, standardized testing has proven to be a significant challenge.
The two articles in this newsletter hopefully will help dispel the mystery of how students should select which test to take. The sophomore year PSAT is a good indicator for students and parents. If the student does not score well on the PSAT, they may opt to take the ACT to see if the score is higher. They may also consider taking both.
For the class of 2021, many colleges and universities are going to be test- optional because of the difficulty in getting a testing date at a testing center close by. Parents and students can study the website www.fairtest.org to see which schools are test optional all the time and which ones are test optional for the application year 2020-2021.
It is my opinion that standardized testing does not effectively demonstrate college readiness any longer, which is what brought about standardized testing in the first place. It will be interesting to see what the College Board and the ACT organization do in the coming years. I am hopeful that more colleges will go test optional. Eventually, standardized testing may go the way of the dinosaur – permanent extinction!
Sincerely,
Catherine L. Marrs, CEP
P.S. This will be the last newsletter before summer break. Our newsletter will resume in late August.
ACT Testing Updates: Summer Testing & Postponement of Section Retesting for 2020
This past weekend, we held our June ACT test. It was by no means a “normal” test experience for students or test center staff. Not all test centers were open, and those that were, underwent extra precautionary steps to social distance and adhere to CDC guidelines.