Federal Disapproval of TABE Test

July 12, 2004

Regarding USDOE Disapproval of the TABE Test

BPSS has become aware that the United States Department of Education (USDOE) has removed the CTB/McGraw-Hill Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) from the list of approved "Ability-to-Benefit"" (ATB) tests acceptable for students without documented high school diplomas or General Education Diplomas (GED®'s). This removal was posted in the Codified Federal Register on May 11, 2004. The information can be found on the Federal website.

USDOE has also provided a transition time period during which schools may continue to use the TABE test while they move to a different approved ATB test. The TABE test cannot be used beyond September 8, 2004. Any schools continuing to do so, will risk the loss of all Title IV funding for students using the TABE to document their entrance into instructional programs and such other penalties as USDOE may determine.

The Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision (BPSS) is very concerned about the impact that this change will make on the non-degree proprietary sector since many of these schools use the TABE test as their currently approved ATB test. Based upon this notice, all curricula using that test will need to be amended as quickly as possible. A complete list of the approved ATB tests, publishers, and contact information is available on our website in Policy Guideline 6. If your school has the TABE approved as its ATB test, we advise you to immediately review the list of approved ATB tests, and determine which other test best fits your school and your students" needs.

Once you have determined the new ATB test that you wish to use for your ATB students, complete the TABE amendment form  in full and send it to our office. This must be done prior to September 8, 2004 based upon the Federal deadline as noted above. This form is to be used only for this transition purpose. Any other changes or amendments must be sent following the regular curriculum instructions for filing such. Once the completed form is received, we will make note in your school file that all references to the TABE test will be amended to the new approved ATB test, form, and score that you have identified. This will be applied to all of your curricula that have the TABE included in the approved entrance requirements. In this way, you will not need to send two copies of each curriculum for amendment in the usual manner. By return mail, you will receive confirmation that your change has been accepted and be encouraged to make sufficient copies of that confirmation to file with each of your currently approved curriculum applications.

We regret the short notice in regards to this change, however, the above process is designed to minimize the paperwork required to make the transition and allow a timely response to that amendment request. Any questions regarding this should be directed to the Curriculum Unit at (518) 474-3969 or to that Unit at bpss@nysed.gov.

Sincerely,

The BPSS Curriculum Unit