South Dakota's college readiness test getting little use

Gov. Dennis Daugaard expressed frustration in his State of the State speech that few school districts are using a college readiness testing program that aims to help reduce the need for remedial classes.

When students need to take a remedial class, they're spending money without making any progress toward a degree — the courses don't count for college credit.

Besides the cost, students who come to college needing remedial classes are less likely to graduate on time or at all, said Paul Turman, South Dakota Board of Regents' vice president for academic affairs.

At the end of the year the students take another test, and if they score high enough, they can go straight into credit-bearing college classes and avoid remedial courses and costs.

School districts have lots of college prep course options, and Accuplacer may simply be being overlooked, said Becky Nelson, South Dakota Department of Education director of learning and instruction.