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Know Your Western Canon? The Classic Learning Test Market for Classics-Savvy Tutors

Know Your Western Canon? The Classic Learning Test Market for Classics-Savvy Tutors

Jan 22, 2018

For ACT/SAT critics who think the modern standardized tests narrow students' learning, the Classic Learning Test is one way to buck the trend – and for tutors, a chance to expand into an emerging test market.

Taking the SAT or the ACT (or both!) is an unavoidable rite of passage for most college-bound high schoolers, even as some colleges (including top-tier ones) are moving toward “test optional” or “test flexible” admissions criteria. For students headed to a growing body of colleges nationwide, a third option has emerged: the Classic Learning Test (CLT).

Like its popular competitors, the CLT tests students in reading comprehension, grammar/vocabulary skills, and mathematics. The online-only exam is two-hours and consists of multiple choice questions, with students learning their results on the same day as taking the exam. Now, how’s that for service?

Where the CLT differs from the SAT and ACT is largely in approach. The CLT curriculum is rooted in the “Great Books” of the Western canon (think the likes of Aristotle and Descartes), which might appeal to tutors with strong knowledge of classic texts in Western philosophy, history, and literature, from Ancient Greece to the 20th century.

The CLT might not be for all students. It’s primarily geared toward private- and home-schooled students, who may already be studying a “Great Books” curriculum. (The CLT folks are highly critical of Common Core Standards.) But while most of the 87 colleges now accepting the CLT are religiously-affiliated, several public colleges have jumped onboard, most recently Christopher Newport University in Tidewater Virginia.

For tutors with an eye out for untapped markets, the CLT may be worth adding to your repertoire of standardized tests.

banner image from https://fee.org/articles/great-books-may-revolutionize-college-admissions-tests/

Great Books May Revolutionize College Admissions Tests https://fee.org/articles/great-books-may-revolutionize-college-admissions-tests/

About The Author

Clark

Clark