Education Alert: College Board & SAT Make Civil Rights Hire

Former Education Trust VP to help make testing better for minorities

A few days ago, when we told you that the SAT is being redesigned by the College Board, we wondered if that would include a focus on improving minority performance on the exam. Looks like the answer is yes. David Coleman, the College Board’s newly installed president, told The Huffington Post that he has created a new position called “senior fellow for social justice.” That position will be filed by Amy Wilkins (pictured), who served as vice president of the Education Trust for 16 years and has worked at the Children’s Defense Fund, the Peace Corps and the Democratic National Committee. “For me, it is a perfect place to be to advance an agenda about low-income students and kids of color,” Wilkins said. “[The College Board] touch [the kids] more directly than I was ever able to … at EdTrust.” Coleman and Wilkins say they will address the issue of low-income and minority students attending universities that aren’t as selective as those they actually qualify for. “I want to find black kids who should be in AP classes but aren’t and get them in,” said Wilkins, adding that she wants to close “some of these gaps” between white and minority students. (HuffPost) 

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