FairTest Praises N.Y. Senate Subpoena of College Board SAT Scoring Error Report

for further information:

Bob Schaeffer (239) 395-6773

cell: (239) 699-0468

for immediate release, Tuesday, July 11, 2006

The country’s leading assessment reform organization today applauded the New York State Senate Committee on Higher Education for serving the College Board with a subpoena for a consultant’s report analyzing the recent SAT scoring error. More than 4,500 test-takers were impacted by the erroneous SAT results, which were not disclosed for five months.

Robert Schaeffer, Public Education Director of FairTest, the National Center for Fair & Open Testing,” said, “It’s time for the College Board to obey the law and keep its promises to make its review of the SAT scoring error public. The subpoena is an important step to end the College Board cover-up. Test takers, policy makers and the public have a right to know how and why the SAT scoring debacle took place.”

On March 23, the College Board said it would release the results of a review by the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton “within 90 days.” College Board President Gaston Caperton repeated the 90-day pledge in an April 11 letter responding to questions from U.S. Representatives George Miller and Dale Kildee of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Mr. Caperton reiterated the College Board’s commitment to making the report’s recommendations public in written and oral testimony before a June 2 hearing of the New York Senate Higher Education Committee. Though the 90-day deadline expired two and a half weeks ago, the report still has not been released In addition, a May 24, 2006 College Board memo to the New York Senate opposing a bill further regulating standardized testing specifically referenced the forthcoming “consulting firm . . . comprehensive review of SAT scoring.” New York’s “Truth in Testing” statute mandates the disclosure of any “report cited in memoranda of support or opposition to legislation.”

A subpoena served on College Board President Caperton late Monday is designed to compel the College Board to disclose the report at or before a Friday July 14 New York Senate Higher Education Committee hearing.

“The College Board’s claim that it cannot release the report because of ‘pending litigation’ is dishonest,” FairTest’s Schaeffer concluded. “In fact, the SAT scoring error lawsuit was announced on April 8, before Mr. Caperton promised Congress and the New York legislature that the results would be public. Moreover, New York’s Truth-in-Testing law requires disclosure of the report.”

Copies of all cited documents are available on request

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