Everything about Act Examination totally explained
The
ACT is a
standardized achievement examination for
college admissions in the
United States produced by ACT, Inc. It was first administered in
Fall 1959 by
Everett Franklin Lindquist as a competitor to the
College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test, now the
SAT Reasoning Test. Some students who perform poorly on the SAT find that they perform better on the ACT and vice versa. The test has historically consisted of 4 tests: English, Math, Reading, and Science reasoning. In February 2005, an optional writing test was added to the ACT, mirroring changes to the SAT that took place later in March of the same year. All four-year
colleges and
universities in the U.S. accept the ACT but different institutions place different emphases on standardized tests such as the ACT, compared to other factors of evaluation such as
class rank,
G.P.A., and
extracurricular activities.
ACT, Inc.
ACT, Inc., was originally known as the
American College Testing Program, Inc., but changed its name to
ACT Inc., the letters
not standing for anything, in 1996. In 2002 the company was restructured to include "Education" and "Workforce Development" divisions, each overseen by its own advisory board. Each
state also has its own state organization, and the entire company is overseen by a
board of directors made up of 14 members. When high school students become sophomores, they take the
PLAN test to help decide if that'll want to take the ACTs the following year. Specifically, ACT states that its scores provide an indicator of "college readiness", and that scores in each of the subtests correspond to skills in entry-level college courses in English, algebra, social science, humanities, and biology.
To develop the test, ACT incorporates the objectives for instruction for middle and high schools throughout the United States, reviews approved textbooks for subjects taught in Grades 7-12, and surveys educators on which knowledge skills are relevant to success in postsecondary education. ACT publishes a technical manual that summarizes studies conducted of its validity in predicting freshman GPA, equating different high school GPAs, and measuring educational achievement.
Colleges use The ACT and the SAT Reasoning Test because there are substantial differences in funding, curricula, grading, and difficulty among U.S. secondary schools due to American
federalism, local control, and the prevalence of private, distance, and
home schooled students. ACT/SAT scores are used to supplement the secondary school record and help admission officers put local data — such as course work, grades, and class rank — in a national perspective.
In addition, some states have used the ACT to assess the performance of schools, and require all high school students to take the ACT, regardless of whether they're college bound.
Colorado and
Illinois have incorporated the ACT as part of their mandatory testing program since 2001.
Michigan has required the ACT since 2007,
Kentucky will require all high school juniors to take the ACT beginning in 2008 and
Wyoming will require all high school juniors to take either the ACT or the ACT
WorkKeys exams.
Use
The ACT is more widely used in the
Midwestern and
Southern United States, while the SAT is more popular on the east and west coasts, although recently the ACT has been gaining more use on the
East Coast. Use of the ACT by colleges has risen as a result of various criticisms of the effectiveness and fairness of the SAT.
Format
The required portion of the ACT is divided into four
multiple choice subject tests:
English,
mathematics,
reading, and
science reasoning. Subject test scores range from 1 to 36; all scores are
natural numbers. The English, mathematics, and reading tests also have subscores ranging from 1 to 18. (The subject score isn't the sum of the subscores.) The "composite score" is the average of all four tests. In addition, students taking the writing test receive a writing score ranging from 2 to 12, a "combined English/writing score" ranging from 1 to 36 (based on the writing score and English score), and one to four comments on the essay from the essay scorers. The writing score doesn't affect the composite score. Sometimes the test includes an experimental section that may be a short version of any of the four major sections. The experimental section is used to
normalize questions for future administrations of the ACT and doesn't count toward the final score. The experimental section is most often found on the June offering.
English
The first section is the 45 minute English test covering
usage/mechanics and
rhetorical skills. The 75 question test consists of a few passages with various sections underlined on one side of the page and options to correct the underlined portions on the other side of the page. There are also a few questions asking about the order of sentences in a paragraph and paragraphs in a passage and the author's tone in a section of text.
Math
The second section is the 60 minute, 60 question math test with 14 covering
pre-algebra, 10 elementary
algebra, 9 intermediate algebra, 14
plane geometry, 9
coordinate geometry, and 4 elementary
trigonometry. Calculators are permitted in this section only. The calculator requirements are stricter than the SAT's in that
computer algebra systems are not allowed; however, the ACT permits calculators with paper tapes, that make noise, that have wireless capabilities, and that have power cords with certified "modifications" (disabling the above features), which the SAT doesn't allow. Also, this is the only section that has five instead of four answer choices.
Reading
The 35 minute, 40 question reading section measures reading comprehension in four passages (taken and edited from
books and
magazines) one about
prose fiction (
short stories and
novels), one about
social science (
history,
economics,
psychology,
political science, and
anthropology), one about
humanities (
art,
music,
architecture,
dance), and one about
natural science (
biology,
chemistry,
physics, and the
physical sciences), in that order.
Science reasoning
The science reasoning test is a 35 minute, 40 question test. There are seven passages each followed by five to seven questions. There are three Data Representation passages with 5 questions following each passage, 3 Research Summary passage with six questions each, and one Conflicting Viewpoints passage with 7 questions.
Writing
The optional writing section, which is always administered at the end of the test, is 30 minutes long. All essays must be in response to a given prompt. The prompts are about a social issue applicable to high school students. No particular essay structure is required. Two trained readers assign each essay a score between 1 and 6, where a score of 0 is reserved for essays that are blank, off-topic, non-English, not written with no. 2 pencil, or considered illegible after several attempts at reading. The scores are summed to produce a final score from 2 to 12 (or 0). If the two readers' scores differ by more than one point, then a senior third reader decides.
Although the writing section is optional, several schools do require an essay score and will factor it in to the admissions decision.
The chart below summarizes each section and the average test score based on graduating high school seniors in 2006.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Act Examination'.
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