WEST HARTFORD–The governor and several state representatives met in West Hartford on Tuesday to discuss student testing.
Recently, it was announced that the state would forego the standardized SBAC for 11th graders in favor of the SATs.
The goal is to reduce the amount of standardized testing and instead focus on preparing students for college and future careers.
For the 2015-2016 school year, the SATs will be used instead of the SBAC, and will be free for all Connecticut students. The SAT typically costs more than $50.
Malloy said over the summer that lower income students who could not to take the exam due to the expense will now be able to do so, a huge benefit since the SATs is often requisite for admission to higher education institutions.
Meanwhile, once students are prepared to apply to college, it will now be easier to do so if the student plans to stay in state.
Yale, UConn, Wesleyan and Connecticut College will all offer the option to apply with one digital portfolio of the student’s academic accomplishments. Students can begin compiling the portfolio as early as freshman year of high school so that it isn’t a rush senior year to make the deadlines. It is also intended to keep college on students’ minds from the very beginning.