ACT president: ‘Relax. Tests don’t define us, nor do they determine our future.’
ACT President Jon Erickson, who has spent three decades in the testing field, is retiring on Sept. 1 after four years in his position. Erickson, 61, answered questions from The Washington Post as the nonprofit organization based in Iowa prepared to release its annual report this week on college admission testing. The ACT is the most widely used admission test in the nation, although the College Board’s SAT draws more students in many states.
Q: Why did you make college testing your career?
Interestingly, it wasn’t my plan really. I was a high school teacher and later a university administrator and I used tests and the resulting information to counsel students and also to help plan educational programs. I was never a huge testing proponent, but I always saw their value when used in the proper way. My questioning surrounding the good and proper role of testing in career planning, academic advising, admission decisions, student retention and equal opportunity led me to investigate and later want to understand, influence and change the testing industry from within.
Q: How has the field changed since you began?
There is more creative assessment being done and researched now from unique item types to computer adaptive delivery to gaming. At the same time, testing certainly seems to have reached a high tide. Accountability has used testing as its bell cow, and that has made it more of the focal point of outcomes. Many have used test results in ways they were never designed to do. Transparency behind tests is much clearer now, but there is a fixation or at least a perception that test scores are the most important measure. The assessment models that hold the most promise are those that look at the whole person -and not solely at academic achievement.
Q: What changes do you see coming in the next few years?
The move to computerized delivery will pick up speed. That should make results more immediate and allow for more personalization in reporting as well. New ways in which test questions can be created as well as delivered and scored will also change the industry. The most dramatic impact will be on formative assessment, classroom-based measures that will be teacher friendly and help guide individualized instruction in K-12, college or in the workplace, or in on-line classes or training programs. Assessments will be delivered at any time in any location with resulting information that will help both the examinee and also the parent, guardian or student advocate.
Q: Some students ace their tests. But for many it’s stressful and traumatic. Some students don’t view themselves as ‘good at tests.’ What do you tell them?
Tests are stressful when we place too much emphasis on their importance. Relax. Tests don’t define us, nor do they determine our future. They inform our decisions and reflect achievement to date. Results can change as you learn more. You hold the power, not the tests; you control your learning. Demystify the test, know its purpose, what it covers, what it looks like, how it’s actually used (its relative importance) and then plan how best to tackle it. If you have done well in class, you almost always will do well on the test. Don’t talk ACT president: ‘Relax. Tests don’t define us, nor do they determine our future.’ - The Washington Post: