[The Florida legislature on Wed., May 3 passed educational reforms, including approval of an option for those opposed to the SAT.]
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ feud with the College Board is calling attention to alternatives in standardized testing methods, including the Classical Learning Test (CLT).
DeSantis began pushing back against the College Board, which administers the SAT entrance exam and Advanced Placement (AP) curricula, in January when his administration rejected the trial-run of the AP African American Studies course in the state of Florida.
Over the past several weeks, DeSantis has questioned the ideological agenda of the College Board in all its offerings and has suggested alternative methods for measuring the academic success of Floridian students, including the CLT.
Testing similar skills to the SAT and ACT, the CLT was created in 2015 and uses texts from the Western tradition as its metric for reading comprehension measures.
Top officials in the DeSantis administration last week met with Jeremy Tate, the creator of the CLT, to discuss options for standardized testing in Florida, according to ABC affiliate “Wear News 3.”
Tate clarified on Twitter, “The difference between CLT and College Board is that [the College Board censors] people of faith. CLT does not. We test a students’ ability to read something they disagree with without having a meltdown.”
Instead of testing students on passages from obscure, dry texts, the CLT uses excerpts from key figures in the Western tradition, such as Plato, Aquinas, Montesquieu, and Twain. The CLT Author Bank also tests students on excerpts from Karl Marx, Toni Morrison, Fredrich Nietzsche, and John Maynard Keynes.
As a teacher, Tate struggled to elicit engagement from his students. “When you remove every transcendental idea from education,” Tate reasons, “students are right to be bored out of their minds. Give them something that deserves their attention, and they will respond. It’s human nature.”
The motivations behind the CLT also correspond to recent trends of students clamoring for classical or Christian college experiences. While most colleges are experiencing enrollment declines, institutions like Hillsdale College or Grove City College, which emphasize the Western tradition, are experiencing rapid increases in application rates.
From CampusReform
See also “Why Conservatives Can’t Stop Talking about Aristotle,” New York Times.
This retired teacher will follow this with interest. If every kid applied only to a local college, whose admissions officers could be expected to be familiar with local high schools, we might dispense with standardized tests. I do find it ironic how many modern progressives denounce this invention of their progressive predecessors in the 1920s as “racist”, when so many of those early progressives were racist (eugenicist) and intended to use the results of tests like these as evidence supporting their bigotries (in which they were disappointed).
“This retired teacher will follow this with interest.” As one retired teacher to another, I am glad I backed you with regard to Ratzinger and his 2004 statement on the death penalty. I might be tempted to say “Great minds think alike” but that would be most unbecoming. A very insightful point you made here and thank you for it.
This college entrance exam is already accepted at Thomas Aquinas and St. John Paul the Great Catholic colleges here in California as well as at Ave Maria University in Florida. Other colleges accepting it include Franciscan University, Wyoming Catholic College, University of Dallas, Benedictine, Hillsdale College, Grove City College, Catholic Pacific College, University of St. Thomas (Houston), Saint Constantine and more than 200 schools. This is very encouraging.
Deacon:
Do you happen to know how the CLT is scaled? For the SAT it’s 200-1600, with 1000 or better considered “good”. For the ACT “good” is usually at least 20.
From what I understand, a perfect 1600 on the SAT, or a perfect 36 on the ACT, approximately equates with a 114 on the CLT (on a 0-120 scale). But, I don’t know what a “good” score would be. That said, for example, Franciscan University accepts students with a 68 or higher on the CLT and a score of 79 or higher qualifies a student for scholarships at Wyoming Catholic College. But, it’s not easy to find the CLT score for admission at most colleges. For more, check out:
https://www.cltexam.com/tests/
As it’s a new exam, it might take several years to establish a large enough body of data to answer my question, but thanks!
Uncouple government, most particularly the Fed, from higher education and you’re halfway home.
Is DeSantis friends with anyone making money from this?
I don’t know, but the College Board, who “owns” the SAT, is overwhelming supported by Democrat money.
https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/college-board/totals?id=D000049487
The College Board is a not for profit organization with its expenses very close to its revenues (over 1 billion dollars.) no info on how much executives get paid.
This new thing is listed as an LLC and is not listed as a non-profit.
As per the caption. how would they know whether a student taking an online is having a meltdown?
I am interested to follow some new bills going through the Texas State Legislature. One of them, if signed into law, will require all public school classrooms in Texas to prominently display the 10 Commandments in all classrooms, in all public schools. This bill, S.B.1515, already passed the Senate, and is now headed to the House. Another bill will require that all students and all employees be allotted a time in the day, to pray and read and study the Bible, if they so choose. To start with, I am hoping that these two bills get signed into law! Next, I am hoping that eventually, other states will follow– including California! Plus, I hope for much more, to help turn America back to God, and good Judeo-Christian beliefs and Morality, and good family values.
I just submitted a comment regarding some wonderful new bills, going through the Texas State Legislature. Hope my comment gets printed. If so, I would like to add some good news. The Texas Senate has given final passage to S.B.1396, which states that all public and charter schools may adopt a policy that requires a time to be allotted in the day, for all students and employees to pray, and read the Bible, or any other religious text, if they so choose. If signed into law, this bill could go into effect right away, next Fall.
The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City is seeking to open the first publicly-funded, virtual, online Catholic K-12 charter school, to serve Catholic students in rural areas of Oklahoma. This would be the first publicly-funded charter school in the Nation! In Oklahoma, charter schools are publicly-funded, just like public schools. Hope this endeavor works out well! Oklahoma already banned public funding for PBS, because of its immoral LGBT and related, objectionable content, evilly sexualizing and indoctrinating innocent children. Also, Okkahoma has a near-total ban on abortion, prohibits doctors from doing medical gender changes on children, prohibits non-binary gender markers on birth certificates, and prohibits transgenders who are biological boys, in girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms, and on female athletic teams. And Oklahoma has book bans for dirty LGBT and all other pornographic books in schools and libraries, and much more! The great Culture of Life is getting started in Oklahoma– and slowly, it will probably spread to our whole country.
Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, and many other states (all are Republican-led, “red” states) are turning back to God, and starting the great Culture of Life, in our country! According to a recent statistic– the most “red” state in America, right now– is Wyoming! 59% of constituents in Wyoming are Republicans, and 25% are Democrats! The most solidly Republican states, right now, are: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Florida has also transitioned from being a “Republican-leaning” state, to a more solidly Republican state. Hopefully, the Culture of Life will grow and expand in the “red” states, and maybe the Democrat-led “blue” states, more heavily afflicted with the Death Culture, and suffering terrible destructions– will give up on the Death Culture, and follow. Faith in God, and dedication to following His Commandments, brings life, health, love, joy, peace, happiness, and prosperity, to a country.