The validity of the Classic Learning Test was at the center of a recent legislative hearing. The test is being considered as a comparable college-readiness assessment to the better-known exams like the ACT and SAT.
The debate has risen because of SB 88, which would require state colleges and universities that use the SAT and ACT to gauge admission to their institution to also now accept the CLT as an appropriate entrance exam.
Representatives from the College Board, which oversees the SAT, and those with the ACT, pushed back against the claim that the CLT is comparable to the established exams taken by most Indiana students to determine if they are prepared to enter higher education.
Indiana mandates 11th graders to take the SAT as the state’s official high school accountability assessment.
Homeschooling families and conservative organizations like Heritage Action support the CLT test, saying it gives families greater access to a test that best fits their child’s curriculum.
Kristen Bizzontz, a director at Classical Conversations, told committee members on Wednesday that her children learned under the classical curriculum, which she says is rooted in skill development, not “encyclopedic acquisition of knowledge.”
“The ACT and SAT will never capture the comprehensive, holistic and expanse of knowledge of what my kids and their fellow classical students have learned,” Bizzontz said. “It is apples and oranges.”
However, Jonothan Lackland, the director of state government relations for the ACT, argued that the CLT has not been independently tested enough to be proven as a proper barometer for student success in higher education.
“All we're asking here is that all assessments be validated and go through the same rigor that we would think your students and your parents and your state would want,” Lackland said.
What is the CLT?
The CLT is a similar test to the SAT or ACT, in that it evaluates high schoolers’ verbal reasoning, grammar, writing and math skills. Unlike more well-known tests, the CLT draws its testing questions from “classic” works and does not allow the use of calculators while testing.
According to the testing site’s author bank, they draw from texts from Plato, Aristotle, Shakespeare and use excerpts from works like Beowulf. More modern writers are also included, like Toni Morrison and George Orwell.
The test is being championed by some Republican politicians as a “back to basics” approach to education, in the wake of recent backlash to what is taught in K-12 and higher education.
The CLT’s board of academic advisors also includes major conservative think tanks and organizations like the Heritage Foundation and the Manhattan Institute.
There are already nine private independent colleges in Indiana that accept the CLT and over 300 nationwide, according to the CLT’s website.
Florida and North Carolina’s public university systems also now require that the CLT be accepted.
CLT’s impact could be limited in Indiana
Even if the test is approved in Indiana, most of the state’s public colleges are test-optional now, meaning students can submit SAT or ACT scores, but it’s not required for admittance. All of Indiana University’s campuses, Ball State University, Indiana State and the University of Southern Indiana are test-optional.
Purdue University’s West-Lafayette campus reinstated the SAT or ACT requirement in the fall of 2024.
Across the country, only 21 private and 42 public colleges currently or soon will require the SAT for admission, according to the College Board.
Terry Whitney, a senior director of government relations for the College Board, raised concerns about the test's security, given that it can be taken remotely, unlike the testing center model used by the SAT.
“In remote settings, confirming that the individual registered for the exam is the same individual completing the exam relies heavily on technology mediated checks rather than direct verification,” Whitney said.
Rep. Jake Teshka (R-North Liberty) mentioned that the SAT and ACT are also not immune to security or cheating concerns, like the high-profile Project Varsity Blues scandal, and a recent report that SAT questions were being leaked online, according to the New York Times.
Whitney said the College Board is constantly working to protect against cheating.
If approved, these changes would go into effect July 1.
Contact Government Reporter Caroline Beck at cbeck@wfyi.org.