First offered in 1926 by the College Board, the SAT has faced controversy throughout nearly a century of testing.
So it lasted close to a century!
First offered in 1926 by the College Board, the SAT has faced controversy throughout nearly a century of testing.
Prior to that it was called the "College Entrance Examination Board," which was formed in 1899. The first admissions tests had started by the 1870s among the early colleges, who later joined to form the "Board". The original purpose was to measure student ability independent of grades, preparatory school or race/religion.
The sad irony is that the test that was started for "blind" measurement of merit has itself entered a state of slow death by racial politics. In 1993, College Board announced that "SAT" didn't stand for anything, as "scholastic aptitude test" was deemed racist. It still used the phrase, "reasoning test", until 2016, but that sure had to go.
College Board has only itself to blame. The test is being dumbed down once again to be administered digitally, couched in terms of "accessibility", etc., etc. -- but which is a blatant financial move as it will enormously lower the costs of test administration (no more moving paper around).