This article explains how Coleman thinks about the SAT:
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/coll...board_adopts_stronger_advocacy_tone.htmlWith New SAT Report, College Board Adopts Stronger Advocacy Tone
By Caralee Adams
Education Week
September 26, 2013
There was a noticeable change in tone at the College Board with the release of this year's SAT scores. Officials went beyond reporting scores to a passionate push to expand opportunity to all students, framing it as a social justice issue.
In the SAT score report out today, just 43 percent of students were deemed college-ready, the exact same percentage as last year, with the average test scores in each category flat.
The stagnant performance on the college-entrance exam and racial gaps (see the new Education Week story here) require a "call to action," said David Coleman, the president of the College Board, in a phone briefing this week with reporters.
What was missing from the explanation about the scores was the notion, emphasized in the past by the College Board, that a larger, more diverse testing pool was to blame. College Board officials said this week that the research does not support linking a change in demographics to the lack of improvement in scores.
"Let me say in a clear voice, there are those who tend to wave away these results because they say more diverse students are taking them," said Coleman, who took over leadership at the College Board in May of 2012. "Our conviction is clear: For this county to succeed, diversity and excellence must both expand. It is perhaps the most urgent work of this next century. We stand utterly committed to not wave away results in any way by saying different kids are taking the exam. We know through advanced coursework and hard work all kids can succeed at a very high level. It's our commitment to expand that circle of opportunity."
