[Infowarrior] - SAT/PSAT requesting marketing data

[Richard Forno]

(the whole article is worth reading -- this is just a snippet about the 'standardized tests' --rick)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-13/ivy-league-solicits-students-to-boost-selectivity.html

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Students who take the PSAT are asked to “opt-in” to the search service on their exam answer sheets to let schools and scholarship programs provide materials on educational opportunities and financial aid. They are also asked for e-mail addresses, a self-reported grade average, racial or ethnic group, religion and college major. They can also opt out.

Parents aren’t required to give consent to answer the questions.

SAT test-takers are asked 42 questions including checking off any of 35 sports they have participated or plan to participate in, and desired college size and setting. Colleges don’t have access to questions about parental income, whether the student has a disability and parents’ highest level of education.

“What the College Board and ACT have done, under the radar screen of parents and regulators, is turn the teens’ educational pursuits into a profit-making opportunity,” said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a nonprofit consumer-protection advocacy group in Washington.

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