New ACT changes will be better for students

ACT Aims for Achievement

Starting in September 2020, students will be able to take the ACT by individual sections as well as online, making it easier to raise scores and more accessible to all students.

BY MORGAN HERRIOTT EDITORIAL EDITOR

Over 2 million students per year study for weeks or even months on end in order to get that perfect score they’ve always dreamed of. They gather to take the infamous American College Testing, according to edweek.org. With recent changes to the ACT, these 2 million students will now have a better chance at raising their composite scores and serve as a way for students to escape test anxiety and college pressures.

The ACT is used as one factor to determine admission to most colleges. The purpose of the ACT test is to measure a high school student’s readiness for college and provide colleges with one common data point that can be used to compare all applicants, according to The Princeton Review. Currently, testtakers take the test in its entirety, a lengthy two hours and 55 minutes, with minimal breaks in between each section. However, ACT. Inc. announced that those who wish to take the ACT would not have to take the entire ACT exam to boost their scores.

Instead, starting in September of 2020, students will be able to take individual sections at a time. These sections include English, Math, Reading, and Science. The option of taking the ACT online on national test dates will also be open to students. These changes will result in many benefits for students and their test-taking experience.

Students will now have the option to take specific sections of the ACT individually, as long as they previously have taken the ACT in its entirety in order to truly show their knowledge of the subject and will help students focus their studies on the areas where they wish to see improvement, according to ACT’s website. This new policy allows for students to try to improve their scores on particular sections of the test that they might not have done as well on, benefitting students who may be lacking in one specific subject. Students can use these individual section tests as part of the superscoring process, which can greatly increase scores for students that choose to focus specifically on each certain section at a time. Their scores will overall look more impressive on college applications, which can be of substantial importance for some students choosing to apply to more highly selective schools.

A higher composite score is a more accurate representation of a student’s abilities, especially those who experience test anxiety. If a student has more time to prepare for a specific subject, it has the possibility to lessen the stress

New ACT Policies: Are the Changes Positive or Negative? (Photos by Morgan Herriott) level of the student. The new division of subject gives students an opportunity to better show their knowledge and provides the ability to have a higher composite score through superscoring.

Students will also have the choice to take the ACT online on each national testing date. This will provide more accessibility, as well as more opportunities for students with test anxiety to remove themselves from stressful surroundings that come with taking the ACT at school in a classroom. Online ACT testing will allow ACT’s testing experience to better coordinate with how a student prefers to learn and the mode they prefer for testing. If a student feels more stressed taking the test on paper in a classroom setting, it could be beneficial for that student to take the test online in a more stress-free environment.

Those who choose the option of online testing will also get their results faster than those who take it on paper. This makes taking the ACT much more convenient, especially for students who may be rushing to get their college applications sent in. The option of online testing will overall allow for a more convenient testing experience for students.

Even with the great benefits, the new ACT policies do still have some flaws. The ACT needs to make reforms to the test in order to increase access and equity for all students. Students who do not have access to tutors, more rigorous test prep and advanced classes will not be put on the same level of playing field in regards to the chance of getting a higher numerical score. A student who has had more in-depth preparation is much more likely to score better on individual sections than one with less practice. Similarly, those who rely on free ACT tests provided by the school may not have the ability to raise their composite score, unlike those who have the opportunity to retake the test multiple times.

The new policy would allow students who can afford it to retake the test multiple times to get better scores, while less privileged students will not be able to take it so many times, giving them a considerable disadvantage. Although the new policy changes do have great benefits, there needs to be reforms so the ACT as a whole is accessible to all students, no matter their circumstances.

But on whole, the new changes to the ACT allow for a more beneficial testing experience. It allows students to have the best test-taking mindset and can use these new changes to their advantage. Students can focus on a certain section they feel poorly about or can take the test online to escape the stressful classroom test mentality. These new changes should be praised because they allow the best possible outcome for the most amount of students.

Senior Sam Shively

“I don’t think it’s fair because the new ACT changes give an unfair disadvantage to students that had to pay to take the entire test over and over just to get the score they wanted.”

Sophomore Paige Dernier

“I think the ACT changes are overall a good idea because they will make test taking much less stressful for all students due to the opportunity for them to be able to separate the tests and focus on each section.”

Theology teacher

Paul Kramschuster

“I am not a fan of the ACT. The test certainly doesn’t have any predictive value of college readiness or success. It is a big business.”