Amid problems, specialists wonder who’s overseeing group that owns SAT Reuters – WBNews

BOSTON Last month, the governing body of the College Board — the not-for-profit that owns the SAT college-entrance exam — met at the Ritz-Carlton resort in Fort Lauderdale for its annual retreat. In 2016, the organization struggled with myriad problems: security lapses overseas, a major breach of questions from the new SAT in the United States, concerns that math questions on the redesigned exam were too long, and continuing setbacks in its years-long effort to digitize the test. Whether the organization’s Board of Trustees discussed any of those issues at its Florida retreat is unclear. Trustees have declined to discuss the College Board’s problems. In a statement to Reuters, a spokeswoman cautioned that “outside experts” who comment on the College Board “have no knowledge of the Board of Trustees’ deliberations.” A lack of disclosure by the board is precisely the issue, say some specialists in non-profit governance. Oversight of the College Board and its CEO, David Coleman, has been opaque, they say, as members of the Board of Trustees have proved unwilling to discuss how the organization is handling its problems. “At some point, the board has to step in and take control of management and demand that these things be fixed with a deadline,” said Eugene Fram, a non-profit governance specialist and emeritus professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology. “In my opinion, the board has not operated with due care.” Lloyd Thacker, executive director of the Education Conservancy, a non-profit that seeks to diminish the importance of standardized…more detail