Expansion (1945 - 1965)
Testing and the Commission on English
From its inception, the College Board attempted to use entrance examinations, with their definitions of requirements, as one means by which to exert control over the secondary curriculum.
The Commission on English was directly concerned with the teaching of English, not the testing of English. However, after the Commission on English finished its work in 1964, the College Board formed the Committee of Review for the Examinations in English. This committee was to consider changes in the English admissions tests that would make them more supportive of the kind of teaching that the Commission on English recommended.
In 1960 the Summer Institute program began an experimental end-of-year examination. The 1960 examination was administered to 1,200 college freshmen from Boston University, Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges, and Rutgers University.
When secondary school teachers responded enthusiastically to the exams, the Commission on English planned examinations for grades 9-12.
The Commission on English published questions for each exam in the book End-of-Year Examinations in English for College-Bound Students, Grades 9-12. The publication was an attempt to define for English teachers some skills and knowledge students should have acquired by the end of each year. Sales of the book exhausted the initial printing of 25,000 copies, and a second printing was made.
The Committee of Review urged the adoption of a single test of literature, language, and composition. Previously, the College Board had numerous tests to assess different parts of the English curriculum. The 1969 Achievement Test in Literature was developed on the recommendation of the Committee of Review for the Examinations in English. This English achievement test was constructed after experimental attempts to include a writing sample were dropped from the Board's English exams.
