Subscribe to the NCSA BlogWhat is ReadiStep?
November 4th, 2008 - by 
The College Board has recently announced a new test to be rolled out in fall 2009. Called ReadiStep, the new test is designed, as the College Board press release states, “to identify the skills that 8th grade students have and those that they need to develop in order to be more prepared for rigorous high school courses and for college.” The pencil-and-paper format test is two hours long and divided into multiple-choice sections of math, writing skills, and critical reading skills. Individual schools and school districts will decide if they want to employ ReadiStep and when they would administer the exam; they would also cover the fee of $10 dollars per exam.
Despite assurances from the College Board that this is “not at all a pre-pre-pre SAT,” critics of standardized tests and their influence on curriculum design and the college admissions process have been quick to question the need for the new test. Some have argued that the new test will only serve to push standardized test-taking anxieties downward into middle school; others that this is a clear effort on the College Board’s part to boost profits at a time when it sees its dominance in the college entrance exam sphere being eroded by competition from the ACT.
Perhaps the most sober way to understand ReadiStep is as a blunt but useful instrument for assessing 8th grade students’ mastery of those fundamental skills that lend themselves to standardized testing. Preparedness for such exams should be a byproduct of every child’s education–not the goal but the result of an educational philosophy that emphasizes foundational skills. Schools should make sure that every child receives a solid foundation in basic reading, writing, and math skills. K thru 12 parents should recognize that it is their right and responsibility to insist upon the coordinated teaching and assessment of such fundamentals over the entire course of every child’s education.
