Chester E. Finn, Jr. of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute believes that Smarter Balanced and PARCC, the two federally-backed Common Core assessment consortia, will lose their place over the next few years to the comprehensive testing apparatus of College Board/ETS and ACT/Pearson.
In a new opinion piece for the Fordham Institute’s education blog, the Flypaper, Finn admits he may of course be wrong in his prediction, but feels that there have been enough indicators recently that he feels “obligated” to make his prediction known.
Essentially, he argues that the process of implementing testing on such a wide scale as will be demanded by the Common Core will be a very difficult one. Currently, Smarter Balanced and PARCC are “struggling with organizational structures, governance, post-federal financing, test-development agonies, uncertain costs, conflicting views of ‘cut scores,’ and all manner of other puzzles.” Since College Board/ETS and ACT/Pearson are already so well placed in terms of “infrastructure, relationships, and durability” in the testing game across the nation, Finn believes that they will have a much better chance in the long run of being the ones to manage Common Core testing.
He does not speculate on whether these two testing services will be a part of creating computerized testing that truly institutes “ ‘next-generation’ tests that probe deeper understanding and more sophisticated (‘higher-order’) skills in more revealing ways.” He also does not suggest that Smarter Balanced and PARCC will vanish from the scene; he instead offers the possibility that they would become advisory boards that work with College Board/ETS and ACT/Pearson to implement and interpret Common Core tests.
He concludes as follows:
If I’m right that ACT and College Board scarf up much state business, there won’t be a lot left for the consortia—and they may founder. That would, of course, represent a considerable waste of federal dollars. On the other hand, it would remove from the Common Core debate (at least until NCLB-reauthorization time, if that day ever comes) the specter of Arne Duncan and Barack Obama clutching those standards to the federal bosom.
For more information, please visit:
