KSL recently reported that Utah lawmakers are considering replacing the SAGE exam with the ACT test for 11th graders. While I am all in favor of getting rid of the SAGE exam, the ACT is only modestly better. ACT and SAT have both been aligned to Common Core. They are no longer college entrance exams, but at their core, they are now high school graduation exams. They won’t test college preparedness, but if a student has achieved high ability with Common Core prescribed skills.
If teachers teach to the test, which they do, and schools want to showcase their students’ abilities, which they do, then the best thing Utah and other states could do would be to switch to a test that is more representative of college level work.
The Classic Learning Test (CLT) is such a test and it has grown rapidly being adopted by over 20 colleges this year as a valid exam for college entrance.
If the CLT becomes the premier college entrance exam, it will trickle down through the schools so the material becomes richer in classics and philosophy because schools will want to perform better on the exam and prepare their students for a true college level entrance exam.
Watch this video about the test. Then go to the CLT Practice Exam and try it out. There are three sections of about 40 questions each for reading, writing, and math.
Here’s a couple additional articles about the exam if you are interested.
http://www.popecenter.org/2016/09/sat-act-fall-short-now-theres-better-alternative/
What happens when the CLT exposes the failure of Common Core??? I believe it too will end up being aligned with CC or be put out of business.
Karen, listen to the podcast I did with Jeremy Tate, founder of the CLT exam. We talk about this very issue. I don’t think it’s really an issue. The only way they survive and thrive is to stay differentiated. They have no desire to align to CC.
https://www.agencybasededucation.org/interview-jeremy-tate/