International counselors blast ACT and College Board, citing ‘lack of confidence’ over testing

By Valerie Strauss (Washington Post).

An organization representing nearly 3,000 school counselors working around the globe just issued a scathing statement rebuking the College Board and ACT Inc. for their handling of international administration of the SAT and ACT college admissions exams, citing a “lack of confidence” in the testing giants.

The International Association for College Admission Counseling, with members in 100 countries who work with hundreds of thousands of overseas students and U.S. citizens living abroad, attacked the two organizations for frequently canceling tests in countries at the last moment and then failing to communicate in a timely fashion. The statement (see in full below) also said U.S. students now “have an advantage in the U.S. admissions process” because more test administrations are given every year and overseas students have fewer chances to take the tests.

The College Board, which owns the SAT, and ACT Inc. are nonprofit organizations that earn millions of dollars each year from their testing and other programs; both pay high salaries to top executives. Their overseas testing has faced security problems for years, most commonly in Asia, which prompted cancellations of test administrations or the rescinding of scores.   Full article