After a lengthy controversy surrounding the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in Charlotte, North Carolina, parents and students can finally breathe a sigh of relief. After the Educational Testing Service (ETS), the service responsible for administering the SATs on behalf of the College Board, discovered that students may not have been properly seated during a May 3 proctoring of the examination, both the College Board and the ETS stated that students may need to retake the test at a later date, threatening the invalidation of whatever scores they may have originally earned. Needless to say, neither students nor parents were exactly thrilled with the prospect.
Exactly a month later, the College Board announced that Charlotte’s students wouldn’t have to retake the test. In an interview with The Charlotte Observer, Thomas Ewing, spokesman for the Educational Testing Service and the College Board, said, “After completing a review of possible seating irregularities, ETS found all scores to be in good standing.” Parents can finally put down their pitchforks and torches, and students can stop worrying about test scores, at least for a little while.
SATs a Stressful, Necessary Part of College Prep
If you’ve never taken the SATs, you might not understand just why parents and students were so upset over the prospect of having tests invalidated. SATs, as the college prep and guidance website College View points out, are a crucial part of the application and acceptance process for prospective college students, particularly those who may have an academic track record that is less than sterling. Say, for example, a student goes through eighth, ninth, and 10th grade with, at best, mediocre marks, but in 11th and 12th grade, the student is suddenly a straight-A student. Which scores should colleges look at? The SAT gives them a real idea of a student’s academic abilities and potential. It’s for this reason that SATs, scored on a scale from 600 to 2400, are considered so important to students and families with dreams of college. Fortunately, Charlotte’s students will have something to pave their way toward an academic future.
Do you think Charlotte students should have had their scores invalidated? Respectfully share your thoughts with us in the comments below!