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Education committee approves bill letting students choose SAT, CLT or ACT paid by state
Summary
Senate Bill 183 would allow Arkansas students to choose from three college‑readiness assessments — ACT, SAT, or CLT — with the state covering one junior‑year test and one earlier test. The committee approved the bill after debate over test validity and implementation.
Senate Bill 183, which would expand the tests Arkansas will pay for on behalf of students to include the SAT and Classical Learning Test (CLT) in addition to the ACT, passed the Senate Education Committee after extended discussion over test validity, implementation and college acceptance.
Sen. Jim Dodson, R., the sponsor, described the bill as “an expansion of the assessments that students are allowed to take,” saying the state would pay for one assessment in grade 9 or 10 and one in grade 11. “Giving students choices in the assessments they take is the purpose of this bill,” Dodson said. He added the measure had been negotiated with the Department of Education and amended several times.
The committee heard opposition from a representative of ACT, Jake Robinson, who said the CLT lacked independent, peer‑reviewed evidence of predictive validity and that there was no valid concordance between CLT and ACT/SAT scores. “In examining the research on CLT, the team located no evidence to support the predictive efficacy of the CLT,” Robinson said, citing a study the ACT provided from the Iowa Board of Regents.
Department of Education staff responded that assessment professionals at the department had reviewed all three tests and concluded they each measure the skills and knowledge necessary for college success. “Our assessment professionals have looked at all 3 assessments... they can attest to, again, that each one measures the skills and knowledge necessary for a student to be successful in college,” Courtney Salasford of the department told the committee.
Committee questions focused on which Arkansas colleges accept the CLT and on fiscal impact. Dodson said the department would negotiate state rates with test vendors to avoid the worst‑case fiscal estimate, and that roughly six Arkansas colleges currently accept the CLT for admissions consideration, including Harding University and John Brown University; Dodson supplied a list later in the hearing naming Harding, John Brown University, Williams Baptist, Crowley's Ridge College, Ekklesia College and University of the Ozarks.
Opponents also warned about administrative burdens: the ACT representative said expanding the state menu could require schools to administer multiple different exams with distinct proctoring and contract requirements. But Dodson and department witnesses said the provision is designed to be optional for students and that the state would cover only one test per time period per student.
After debate, the committee passed the bill by voice vote. Sponsor Dodson said the bill would increase student choice and align the state’s funded scholarships and state‑supported institutions if the larger ACCESS legislation also moves forward.
