College admission test requirement advances

All Nebraska 11th-graders would take a college admission test under a bill advanced from general file April 4.

Sponsored by Sen. Jim Scheer of Norfolk, LB930 would require public school students in the 11th grade to take a college admission test, such as the ACT or SAT, instead of current Nebraska State Accountability (NeSA) assessments.

An Education Committee amendment, adopted 34-0, directs the State Board of Education to select the test and authorizes the state Department of Education to use lottery funds to pay for schools’ expenses in administering the tests in the 2017-18 school year.

It also would end the requirement for a statewide writing assessment after the 2016-17 school year and instead require that the statewide reading assessment contain a writing component.

Sen. Kate Sullivan of Cedar Rapids introduced an amendment, adopted 29-0, that would authorize the state Department of Education to administer the test as soon as next school year.

Scheer said the current statewide assessment does not benefit 11th graders because they have no incentive to do well on it. Students would be motivated to do well on college admission tests because they measure a student’s readiness for higher education and can lead to scholarships, he said.

College admission tests also would benefit students who do not wish to pursue a four-year degree, Scheer said, because they provide career readiness metrics and are required for admission to Nebraska’s community colleges.

Omaha Sen. Nicole Fox supported the bill, saying that it would give all students one free opportunity to take a college admission test whether they plan to go to college or not. It also would give students in low-income families the opportunity to take the test, she said.

“For a family in poverty, this may be an expense they cannot afford,” Fox said, “and students in these families may opt to not take the exam even once or even think that higher education is an option for them.”

The bill advanced to select file on a 32-0 vote.