Dear All,
As some of you were aware, ETS had planned to launch a new GRE beginning in Fall 2007. I am writing to inform you that ETS is NOT going to launch the new GRE test after all. The test and the testing procedures will remain the same for the foreseeable future. For further details, please see below.
Cheers,
Nicole Constable
Associate Dean of Graduate Studies & Research
School of Arts & Sciences
University of Pittsburgh
5141 Sennott Square
412-624-6094
FAX: 412-624-6855
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [CGS List] Important Announcement Regarding the Revised GRE
General Test
Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2007 10:14:31 -0400
From: Payne, David
Reply-To: CGS Dean's Discussion List
To:
Dear CGS Member,
I want to alert you to a news release that ETS issued this morning
announcing that we have cancelled plans to launch the revised GRE®
General Test (the news release can be viewed at www.ets.org/gre
the Executive Committee of the Graduate Record Examinations® (GRE®)
Board. While ETS and the Board remain committed to improving the test,
on balance, we believe the potential risk to testing access outweighed
the benefits of immediately moving to the new format.
ETS made this decision with the best interests of test takers and score
users in mind. The primary factor underlying this decision is our
commitment to provide all test takers and score users easy access to
tests and scores, minimal change and disruption in the test process, and
the most valid predictor possible of a test taker’s preparedness for
graduate study. After careful review, we believe the current GRE General
Test remains the best means of achieving those goals.
The primary reason for canceling the launch of the revised GRE General
Test was access for test takers. During the past three months it has
become clear that we could not accommodate all anticipated fall 2007 GRE
test takers with the new Internet-based Testing (iBT) network. To meet
the need for seats, we were planning multiple contingency plans, each of
which carried potential risks. In addition, we have received input from
graduate deans, admission staff, test center staff, and the
international educational advising community over the past several
months. We took very seriously all of the concerns raised by these
groups. After much debate and evaluation, we determined that we could
not assure full, simultaneous access to the revised test for all
students worldwide.
For the testing year September 2007-June 2008, we will continue to offer
the GRE General Test in its current computer-based, continuous testing
format. For test takers and score users, nothing will change, with the
possible exception of seamless adjustments to the Analytical Writing
prompts (i.e., the writing tasks that the test takers respond to in the
Analytical Writing section). Registrations for the current GRE General
Test in India, China and Japan, which had been closed in recent weeks,
are being reopened in the next few days to accommodate application
deadlines.
We at ETS truly appreciate the feedback and support that you have given
us. ETS will rethink and redesign the strategy for addressing needs for
new test content and psychometric models for the GRE General Test, and
we will work with the GRE Board to consider future improvements that
will not impair access. We are working on a plan to guide our
activities in the future, and we will share those plans with the GRE
Board soon.
Please feel free to share this message with appropriate faculty and
staff on your campus. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate
to contact me.
Sincerely,
David G. Payne, PhD
Executive Director, GRE Program
Higher Education Division
Educational Testing Service
Rosedale Road, MS 08-L
Princeton, NJ 08541
Office: (609) 683-2014
Fax: (609) 683-2022
