The National Center for Fair & Open Testing

The National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest) works to end the misuses and flaws of standardized testing and to ensure that evaluation of students, teachers and schools is fair, open, valid and educationally beneficial.

Learn more about us and our mission.

Spotlight

Deb Meier on Winning Testing Reform Victories

Dear friend:

Schools are closed for the summer. But testing reformers are not taking a vacation.

FairTest needs your support today, so our movement can win more victories this fall.

The past year was the best ever for campaigns to replace standardized exam misuse and overuse with better forms of assessment.

•   41 additional colleges and universities adopted test-optional admissions
•   Three more states dropped discriminatory exit exams
•   Several others eliminated harmful, test-driven school grading schemes.

As always, FairTest has been the national leader pressing colleges to drop test score hurdles, testifying before state legislatures and backing up local activists with resources and media help. It is the only group with a laser-like focus on this key issue.

Unfortunately, all this great work has taken a toll on the organization’s finances.

I just made a major donation to fortify FairTest and urge you to do the same.

To strengthen the testing reform movement, please make your most generous possible contribution today. Click here:

DONATE NOW

or mail your check to: FairTest, 196 Spring Street, Arlington, MA 02476

With best wishes
Deborah Meier

FairTest: New SAT “Adversity Score” Concedes Exam’s Fundamental Flaws

“Promotion of ‘adversity scores’ is the latest attempt by the College Board to defend the SAT against increasingly well-documented critiques of the negative consequences of relying on admissions test results,”according to Robert Schaeffer, Public Education Director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest).

June 2019: Global SAT Subject Test Security Breach; Scores Compromised

Last weekend’s SAT Biology Subject Test was in circulation more than half a day before the test’s administration, according to a watchdog group that received an advance copy. In addition, exam questions and answers were posted on the website Reddit.com hours before U.S. testing started.

Updated FairTest Factsheet: States That Recently Eliminated or Scaled Back High School Exit Exams

The number of states requiring high school graduation exams in language arts and math has declined rapidly over the past few years. Only eleven states have graduation tests in place for the high school class of 2020, down from a high of 27 that had or planned such tests. The current number is the lowest level since at least the mid-1990s.

See our updated fact sheet: Graduation Test Update: States That Recently Eliminated or Scaled Back High School Exit Exams

FairTest Reacts to the 2019 College Admissions Scandal

“This is both the worst case of corruption in the college admissions process ever seen in the U.S., and just a natural extension of the kinds of manipulation that people with money have done to get their kids into selective colleges.” “The whole system is pay-to-play.”

Click here for a roundup of FairTest media reactions to the latest example of the test-driven admissions process being “gamed” by the wealthiest and most privileged among us.

“Beyond The GRE” Campaign And “GREXIT” Web List Seek To Downplay Tests In Graduate School Admissions

Scores from the Graduate Records Examinations (GRE) are not good predictors of success in many graduate school programs, according to leaders of an effort to reduce reliance on test results launched today.

More than 1000 four-year colleges and universities do not use the SAT or ACT to admit substantial numbers of bachelor-degree applicants.

See the searchable database of schools.

Find out why and how schools go "Test Optional."

What's New at FairTest

Members of the Media:

Contact Robert Schaeffer at (239) 395-6773 or FairTest at (617) 477-9792

Social Media:

Visit FairTest on Facebook and Twitter