June 6, 2008

Test Touted as 2 Studies Question Its Value

Small colleges back achievement exam to measure accountability

By PAUL BASKEN

Two years after many colleges resisted attempts by the Bush administration to impose more rigorous methods of student assessment, a leading coalition of private institutions is pressing its members to adopt an increasingly popular standardized achievement test. But the push to adopt the assessment comes as the test faces new questions over its reliability.

Last week the 600-member Council of Independent Colleges accepted a $666,000 grant from the Teagle Foundation to expand a