Educational Testing Service
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The Educational Testing Service (or ETS) is the world's largest private educational testing and measurement organization, operating on a annual budget of approximately $900 million. ETS develops various standardized examinations primarily in the United States, but they also administer tests such as TOEFL in most nations. Many of the assessments they develop are associated with entry to US tertiary and quaternary education institutions. As well as test development, they also carry out internationally recognised educational research.
Their international campus-like headquarters is in Lawrenceville, New Jersey (with a Princeton mailing address); Processing, shipping, customer service and test security nearby Ewing, New Jersey, New Jersey; and European headquarters is in Utrecht in the Netherlands. ETS employs about 2,700 individuals, including 240 with doctorates and an additional 350 others with "higher degrees."
ETS is a non-profit organization. However, the organization is also self-supporting, meaning that they need to charge for assessments. Some test-takers find these prohibitively high, although test fee waivers or reductions are available for individuals whom can prove financial hardship. See Criticisms of the SAT.
Much of the work carried out by ETS is contracted by the private, non-profit firm the College Board. The most popular of the College Board's tests is the SAT, taken by more than 3 million students annually.
Tests administered by ETS
- Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
- SAT (formerly: Scholastic Aptitude Test)
- PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT)
- College Level Examination Program (CLEP)
- Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
- Test of English for International Communications (TOEIC)
External links
- Educational Testing Service (http://ets.org) homepage
- ETS Signs New College Board Contract (http://www.ets.org/news/03020501.html)
Sources
- Rethinking Schools Online (http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/14_03/sat143.shtml)