By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer
Critics warn state that SAT isn’t suitable as MEA replacement.

A national SAT prep company is warning lawmakers that swapping Maine’s high school test for the SAT will prove disastrous for students.

In a letter sent to state legislators, the founder and CEO of The Princeton Review called the change “profoundly bad policy.” He believes it will force high schools to focus on basic math and English concepts – fractions, decimals and vocabulary – as a strategy to ensure that students get the most points on the test.

“If Maine goes with it, I’ll get a lot of business,” said John Katzman. “But what will happen is Maine high schools will be worse five years from now.”

The Princeton Review is the latest group to warn against replacing the 11th-grade Maine Educational Assessment with the national SAT. The National Association for College Admission Counseling, various school administrators and several state legislators have protested since the Maine Department of Education announced the switch in August.

Some question the logistics: Will students really go to school on a Saturday to take the exam? Others question whether a national college entrance exam can really show which students meet state education standards.

The change was so controversial that Senate Majority Leader Michael Brennan, D-Portland, filed a bill earlier this month to stop it.

“I think we should spend time looking at whether the MEA should be reconfigured or used differently,” Brennan said.

The Maine Education Assessment, or MEA, gauges how well students learned what the state wants them to know. The test is given to students in grades four, eight and 11. Student scores determine whether a school is failing or successful.

State education officials decided earlier this year to scrap the 11th-grade MEA and require students to take the college entrance exam instead. After months of study, state officials concluded that the SAT matches Maine’s education standards. An advisory committee had a hard time even telling the tests’ questions apart, according to Deputy Education Commissioner Patrick Phillips.

State officials and some educators believe a required SAT – paid for by the state – will have extra advantages, too. It will get more students to consider college, they said. And 11th-graders may actually take the test seriously.

“Some of our best students gave less than 100 percent effort because, in their minds, the MEA didn’t impact their grades or their schooling,” said Michael Hutchins, assistant principal at Lewiston High School.

But others see major problems with the switch.

After 25 years in the test prep business, Katzman believes students are assured good SAT scores when they get a lot of easy questions right. Because of that, he fears score-conscious high schools will ignore advanced skills and drill the basics.

“This will lead to a dumbing down for Maine high schools,” Katzman said.

He urged the state to look for a better way to gauge student achievement.

“I don’t know how rigorous a search Maine did, but it came up with the wrong answer,” he said.

Currently, about 77 percent of 11th-graders take the SAT. Unless the Maine Department of Education changes its plans or the Legislature puts a stop to it, all 11th-graders will take the test on April 1.

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