Announced: Changes to the ACT Score Report
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ACT officials announced changes to the popular college admissions exam last Friday. Starting next year, the nonprofit testing organization will expand upon how it reports students’ scores. Along with their score report, students will receive a score on two new “readiness indicators,” demonstrating how they performed in relation to career preparedness and understanding complex content. The classic 36-point scale will not change.
A separate score on STEM performance (science, technology, engineering, and math) will be offered as part of a new category that incorporates the science and math sections. A second new category in the field of language arts will incorporate student’s test performance in English, reading, and writing (only for those who take the optional writing portion of the exam).
The ACT also stated that it is in the process of developing language in its score reports that is on par with Common Core standards, a set of academic expectations that describe what math and language skills students should be proficient in at each grade level.
New open-ended questions will become available to school-day curriculums in reading, math, and science subject areas. Open-ended questions, the ACT announced, call for a “constructed response” by the student, unlike questions with fill-in-the-bubble response, which tend to be less complex and demanding of the student’s capabilities.
These changes come just three months after the College Board announced extensive changes to the SAT. However, ACT officials state that the exam’s updates are not in response to the College Board.
This June 14, approximately 600,000 students are due to take the exam, a record high, the ACT stated. Students who want to take the ACT in the fall can register for exams now. The next test date is September 13, 2014, and the registration deadline is August 8. There is another test offered October 25, 2014. Students must register by September 19.
For more information regarding the ACT, visit their official website at actstudent.org.
Sources:
Huffington Post & Washington Post