ACT

BRIEF SUMMARY

The American College Testing Program Assessment (ACT) is one of the major standardized college entrance exams. The ACT is given during eleventh or twelfth grade and is a three-hour multiple-choice exam divided into four parts: English, mathematics, reading and science reasoning, always in that order. Many colleges in the South and Midwest require students to take the ACT test and submit their scores when applying for admission; other institutions accept either the ACT or the SAT. The ACT is growing in popularity: about 1.7 million copies of the test are given annually (in October, December, February, April, June and, in some states, September), as compared to 1.8 million copies of the SAT.

Also see Entrance Exams.

KEY POINTS

• A standardized test used for college admissions in the United States.
• The ACT test covers four academic skill areas: English, mathematics, reading, and science reasoning

SHARED WISDOM

• Q: Can anyone please share their policy, legal guidance, best practice, anecdotes, or anything regarding students who want to remove only certain SAT/ACT test scores from their transcript?
  • A: We made the decision to remove ALL SAT/ACT scores from the transcript when the test optional movement started to grow. There is no way we can keep track of which schools are test optional and which students are applying that way. I also know that this can become an access issue for low income students so we are proactive in making sure that they are given fee waivers.
  • A: We have had this request more and more recently. We tell the students that if they want their scores removed, they have to take ALL the ACT or SAT scores off.. not pick and choose which scores they want for the tests.
  • A: We don’t transcribe any college admissions test scores.  I decided to stop when PU/IU said they wouldn’t consider them valid on a transcript.  I also think it inserts unnecessary human error and issues such as what you are encountering.
  • A: While test optional is becoming more prominent and there is room for error, although SAT and ACT now both have online platforms for the scores to be loaded electronically, I feel like we need to put the test scores on the transcript so that our students don’t have to continue to pay College Board and ACT exorbitant amounts of money to send the test scores when they apply to colleges.  I feel like I talk until I’m blue in the face for students to take advantage of the 4 score sends when they register for these tests, but they just don’t do it.  We still have a LOT of colleges in Indiana that will accept the test scores off of our transcripts.  We also have more colleges that are allowing students to self-report scores.  If we are not putting test scores on the transcript, then our students will be forced to pay more money to these testing companies.  I don’t think that is fair to our students.
  • A: Many will accept it for application, just not for admittance. So it does save money for one part at least.

RESOURCES

• The ACT website
• The ACT Test for U.S. Students
  
• ACT vs. SAT
  
• Information on the ACT Test for K-12 Educators and Administrators
  

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• Kelly on March 3, 2020 @ 14:41:34
• Kelly on March 3, 2020 @ 14:40:52
• Kelly on October 14, 2019 @ 21:19:33
• Mary on September 17, 2018 @ 18:52:12
• Kelly on August 21, 2018 @ 12:52:42

This post was created by ABCD ContentManager on August 21, 2018.