Scott Webster, College Entrance Exam Program Manager
“ ‘Cause it’s ONE, TWO…” Like a veteran ball player who disappoints fans at the plate with each subsequent strike, The College Board of late seems to be either unable or unwilling (perhaps both?) to devote the resources necessary to ensure a secure, high-quality testing experience to the millions of students who take the SAT each year. College Board’s first strike occurred in the June 2018 test with a staggering example of “score equating,” a practice that is supposed to “...[ensure] fairness for all students," to quote the College Board. Now, one would think that this first infraction would prompt the College Board, which is already struggling to keep pace with the ACT in terms of market share, to take all steps necessary to knock it out of the park in the next test iteration; amazingly, College Board appears to have done the exact opposite this August by administering a test that contained material from a test that was leaked in Asia last year. Strike TWO. One wonders at the play-calling here, and if College Board does not address these issues quickly and comprehensively - whether that be by devoting significant resources to question generation and score scaling, ramping up test center security here and abroad, or exploring computerized test administration - then it’s “...THREE strikes you’re out” at the old standardized testing ball game.