Dive Brief:

• ACT announced its choice of Marten Roorda as the testing company’s top executive, taking the reins in the fall after current CEO Jon Whitmore’s retirement.
• Roorda moves from a 12-year tenure at Cito, a test publishing company in the Netherlands, where he championed work in learning analytics and adaptive testing.
• ACT led an international search for its next CEO, settling on Roorda for his “extraordinary reputation in assessment,” according to the organization's board of directors.

Dive Insight:

Roorda will take the helm of the ACT at a time of massive change in the way standardized testing is approached in this country. Critics have argued for years that students from more advantaged backgrounds have a better shot at performing well on college entrance exams simply because of better test prep. Many liberal arts colleges, in turn, are shifting away from their reliance on these tests for admissions. The ACT may also face stiffer competition thanks to a fundamental redesign by its exam's main competitor, the SAT, which will debut in 2016.