Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Standardized Testing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sponsors seek to add Classical Learning Test as approved college-admissions option in Ohio
Summary
Representatives Ritter and Newman urged the House Education Committee to add the Classical Learning Test (CLT) to Ohio's list of approved college-admissions assessments, saying it offers an alternative to SAT/ACT for students in classical, homeschool and other programs; Representative Ritter said the bill 'does not mandate the CLT.'
Representatives Ritter and Newman testified in favor of House Bill 326 to allow Ohio school districts to offer the Classical Learning Test (CLT) as an approved college-admissions assessment option.
Ritter told the committee the measure "does not mandate the CLT" but would provide parity so schools and students could choose the assessment that best fits their preparation. He said the CLT aligns with classical-education values by emphasizing longer reading passages, logic and critical thinking and noted it is accepted by hundreds of colleges. Representative Newman said adding CLT would expand educational choice and help attract students to Ohio institutions.
Committee members focused on practical consequences for students and districts. Representative Piccolantonio asked whether a district that offers only the CLT would disadvantage students applying out of state; sponsors said the state cannot control out-of-state admissions policies. Representative Miller and others asked whether CLT better reflects learning in some homeschool and classical-school settings; Ritter said CLT is widely used by homeschoolers and described the test as emphasizing longer passages and logic. Ritter also said the CLT test fee is "$69." Representatives asked for comparative data on how CLT results would map to existing high-school assessments.
What comes next: The committee held a hearing and took testimony; no committee vote was recorded at this meeting. Sponsors offered to provide additional data for the committee to review.
