Akil Bello joins FairTest as Senior Director of Advocacy and Advancement; Bob Schaeffer is Interim Executive Director

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for immediate release, Thursday, January 23, 2020

AKIL BELLO JOINS FAIRTEST AS

SENIOR DIRECTOR OF ADVOCACY AND ADVANCEMENT;

BOB SCHAEFFER IS INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest) has announced that assessment reform expert Akil Bello has joined the organization as Senior Director of Advocacy and Advancement. Bob Schaeffer, FairTest’s long-term Public Education Director, has become interim Executive Director

Bello has more than three decades of experience working on testing issues as a tutor, analyst, and advocate. He co-founded the company Bell Curves, which focused on preparing low-income and minority students for standardized exams. Later he served as Director of Equity and Access at the Princeton Review. Most recently, he has consulted with colleges and organizations seeking to remove barriers to educational opportunity. In addition to his experience with the ACT, SAT, and GRE, Bello has been involved with campaigns to eliminate reliance on test scores to determine admission to New York City’s selective high schools and gifted-and-talented programs. He is a graduate of the Pratt Institute.

Schaeffer has been affiliated with FairTest since its formation. He has coordinated the organization’s leadership of the national test-optional admissions movement, consulted with many colleges, and testified before more than a dozen state legislative bodies about assessment reform issues. Schaeffer is the author of many publications including a chapter in the Teachers College Press book The Scandal of Standardized Tests: Why We Need to Drop the SAT and ACT, scheduled for publication in March 2020. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as both an undergraduate and graduate student.

Schaeffer explained, “Adding Akil Bello to the FairTest team significantly expands our capacity for winning even more assessment reform victories.” Bello added, “I welcome the opportunity to work with this effective organization to ensure better outcomes for all students.”

Founded in 1985, FairTest leads campaigns for testing reforms in both the K-12 and higher education arenas. It opposes misuses of standardized exams in making educational decisions while advocating for better types of assessment.

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