A Closer Look at the Classic Learning Test
Bottom Line: The Florida Board of Governors has approved the CLT, or Classic Learning Test, as an alternative standardized test to the ACT and SAT. The adoption of the test enables students seeking admission to any of the state’s 12 universities to use CLT results as part of the admissions process starting with this fall’s semester. There’s been a lot of coverage of the state’s choice to accept the CLT, but very little detail about what’s actually in the test and how it compares to the ACT and SAT. The foundation for the CLT was laid in 2013 when a 11th grade English teacher grew frustrated with the traditional education curriculum which he viewed as failing the interests of his students. After overhauling his teaching methods with instant success, Jeremy Tate set out to create standardized testing that was congruent with his new teaching methods. The CLT was launched in 2015.
Use of the CLT has rapidly grown in response to the increase in homeschooled children and those who’ve sought education outside of the traditional public-school environment. While the focus in Florida is on the assessment test for high school graduates seeking college admission, the CLT has assessment tests for grades 3 through 12 in addition to college preparatory exams designed for 9th and 10th grade students. The CLT tests are also administered online. Here’s an overview of the nuts and bolts of the college entrance exam:
- Cost is $59
- 2 hrs in length
- Sections include: Verbal Reasoning, Grammar/Writing, Quantitative Reasoning and an optional essay
- Scoring system 0-120
- Unlimited number of score sends to colleges without additional cost
Over 250 colleges and universities across the country currently accept the CLT for admissions considerations. Test results are available eight days after taking the exam (compared to two to four weeks for the ACT and SAT). The goal of the CLT is to test intellectual capacity and aptitude, contrasting it with recall learning which is broadly tested by the ACT and SAT. To date over 21,000 students have taken the CLT since its inception. CLT scores can be sent to participating schools in addition to ACT or SAT scores.