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ACT (test)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The ACT (/e si ti/ ay-see-tee; originally an abbreviation ofAmerican

College Testing)[1] is a standardized test for high school achievement and

college admissions in the United States produced by ACT, Inc.[1] It was first

administered in November 1959 by Everett Franklin Lindquist as a

competitor to the College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test, now the SAT

Reasoning Test.[2] The ACT has historically consisted of four tests:

English, Mathematics, 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.

The ACT has seen an increase in the number of test takers recently; In

2011 the ACT surpassed the SAT as 1,666,017 students took the ACT

and 1,664,479 students took the SAT. [3] All four-year colleges and

universities in the U.S. accept the ACT,[4] but different institutions place

different emphases on standardized tests such as the ACT, compared toother factors of evaluation such as class rank, GPA, and extracurricular

activities. The main four tests are scored individually on a scale of 136,

and a Composite score is provided which is the whole number average of

the four scores.

Contents

1 Function2 Use3 Format

3.1 English

3.2 Mathematics3.3 Reading

3.4 Science reasoning3.5 Writing3.6 Averages3.7 Highest score

3.8 College Admissions

4 Test availability5 Test section durations6 Score cumulative percentages and comparison with SAT7 See also8 References

9 External links

Function

(test) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A

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ACT, Inc. says that the ACT assessment measures high school students' general educational development and

their capability to complete college-level work with the multiple choice tests covering four skill areas: English,

mathematics, reading, and science. The optional Writing Test measures skill in planning and writing a short

essay.[5] 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.[6] According to a research study conducted by ACT, Inc., in 2003, a relationship was

found between a student's ACT composite score and the possibility of he or she earning a college degree.[7]

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 712, 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.[8]

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, home schooled students and, most importantly, lack of rigorous college

entrance examination system like those used in other countries. ACT/SAT scores are used to supplement the

secondary school record and help admission officers put local datasuch as course work, grades, and classrankin a national perspective.

Most colleges use ACT scores as only one factor in their admission process. A sampling of ACT admissions

scores shows that the 75th percentile composite score was 24.1 at public four year institutions and 25.3 at

private four year institutions. It is recommended that students check with their prospective institutions directly

to understand ACT admissions requirements.

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 are 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 and Tennessee require all high school juniors to take the ACT and Wyoming requires all high school

uniors to take either the ACT or the ACT WorkKeys.[9]

While the exact manner in which ACT scores will help to determine admission of a student at American

institutions of higher learning is generally a matter decided by the individual institution, some foreign countries

have made ACT (and SAT) scores a legal criterion in deciding whether holders of American high school

diplomas will be admitted at their public universities.

Use

The ACT is more widely used in the Midwestern, Rocky Mountain, and Southern United States, while the SAT ismore popular on the East and West coasts. Recently, however, the ACT is being used more on the East

Coast.[10] Use of the ACT by colleges has risen as a result of various criticisms of the effectiveness and fairness

of the SAT. American Mensa is a high IQ society that allows use of the ACT for membership admission if the

test was taken prior to September 1989. A composite score of 29 or above is required.[11] The Triple Nine

Society also accepts the old ACT test for admission, with a qualifying score of 32; after September 1989 the

qualifying score is 34.[12]

Format


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Map of states according to preferred

test of 2006 high school graduates.

States in blue had more students taking

the ACT than the SAT.

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 integers. The

English, mathematics, and reading tests also have subscores ranging from

1 to 18. (The subject score is not 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 does not affect the composite

score.

On the ACT, each question correctly answered is worth one raw point.

Unlike the SAT, there is no penalty for marking incorrect answers on the

multiple-choice part of the test. Therefore, a student can answer all questions without suffering a decrease in

their score for questions they answer incorrectly. This is parallel to several AP Tests eliminating the penalties for

incorrect answers. To improve the result, students can retake the test: 55% of students who retake the ACT

improve their scores, 22% score the same, and 23% see their scores decrease.[13]

English

The first section is the 45-minute English test covering usage/mechanics and rhetorical skills. The 75-question

test consists of five 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. More specifically, questions focus on usage and mechanics

issues such as commas, apostrophes, (misplaced/dangling) modifiers, the colons, and fragments and run-ons as

well as on rhetorical skills style (clarity and brevity), strategy, transitions, and organization (sentences in a

paragraph and paragraphs in a passage.)

Mathematics

The second section is the 60-minute, 60-question mathematics test with 14 covering pre-algebra, 10 elementary

algebra, 9 intermediate algebra, 14 plane geometry, 9 coordinate geometry, and 4 elementary trigonometry.[14]

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 (but must be disabled), or that have power cords with certain "modifications" (i.e., disabling the mentioned

features), which the SAT does not allow.[15] Also, this is the only section that has five instead of four answer

choices.

Reading

The reading section consists of four ten-question passages, from the realm of prose, humanities, social science,

and natural science. The student gets 35 minutes to take this test.

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.[16]


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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.

The essay can affect the score of the English section only. If a student were to score a 10 out of 12 on the

writing, and the student scored an English composite score of 25 then the score would be affected, but would

most likely stay the same. If a student were to score poorly on the writing section, then the score would be

reduced from 25 to 23 at the most. 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 the

admissions decision.[17]

Averages

For the original standardization groups, the mean composite score on the ACT was 18, and the standarddeviation 6. These statistics vary from year to year for current populations of ACT takers.

The chart below summarizes each section and the average test score based on graduating high school seniors in

2009.[18][19]

SectionNumber of

questions

Time

(minutes)

Average

score

CollegeReadiness

Benchmark

Content

English 75 45 20.6 18 usage/mechanics and rhetorical skills

Mathematics 60 60 21.0 22

pre-algebra, elementary algebra,intermediate algebra, coordinategeometry, geometry, and elementarytrigonometry

Reading 40 35 21.4 21 reading comprehension

Science 40 35 20.9 24interpretation, analysis, evaluation,reasoning, and problem-solving

Optional

Writing Test

1 essay

prompt30 7.7 writing skills

Composite 21.1

Highest score

The chart below summarizes how many students achieved a score of 36 on the ACT between the years of 1997

and 2011.[20]


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Percent of test takers achieving a 36 on the ACT from 1997 to 2011.

Year

Numberof

studentswho

achieveda 36

Number

ofstudents

overall

% of

studentswho

achieveda 36

2011 705 1,623,112 0.04337

2010 588 1,568,835 0.03748

2009 638 1,480,469 0.04309

2008 428 1,421,941 0.03010

2007 314 1,300,599 0.02414

2006 216 1,206,455 0.01790

2005 193 1,186,251 0.01627

2004 224 1,171,460 0.01912

2003 195 1,175,059 0.01659

2002 134 1,116,082 0.01201

2001 89 1,069,772 0.00832

2000 131 1,065,138 0.01230

1999 85 1,019,053 0.00834

1998 71 995,039 0.00714

1997 74 959,301 0.00771

College Admissions

At ACT.org, they provide the current ACT Assessment Student Report provides the typical ACT Composite

averages for college and universities ranging in admission policies. They caution that, "because admission

policies vary across colleges, the score ranges should be considered rough guidelines." Following is a list of the

average composite scores that typically are accepted at colleges or universities. [21]

Highly selective (majority of accepted freshmen in top 10% of high school graduating class): scores

27-31

Selective (majority of accepted freshmen in top 25% of high school graduating class): scores 25-27Traditional (majority of accepted freshmen in top 50% of high school graduating class): scores 22-24Liberal (some freshmen from lower half of high school graduating class): scores 18-21

Open (all high school graduates accepted, to limit of capacity): scores 17-20

Test availability

The ACT is offered four to six times a year, depending on the state, in the United States, in September, October,

December, February, April and June and is always on a Saturday except for those with credible religious

obligations. The test can also be taken in other countries, however availability is much less than in the United

States.

"Some people believe that it is possible to get a higher score by testing on one national test date than on another.


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They think that on certain national test dates, easier forms of the ACT are routinely administered, thereby

making it possible to get a higher score simply by choosing to test on one of those "easy" test dates. Likewise,

they may think that there is an advantage to testing on one of the less popular national test dates, when fewer

students take the ACT. These beliefs are not true. The ACT is designed, administered, and scored in such a way

that there is no advantage to testing on one particular date or another." [22]

Candidates may choose either the ACT assessment ($34), or the ACT assessment plus writing ($49.50).

Students with verifiable disabilities, including physical and learning disabilities, are eligible to take the test withaccommodations. The standard time increase for students requiring additional time due to learning disabilities is

50%.[23] Originally the score sheet was labeled that additional time was granted due to a learning disability,

however this was dropped because it was deemed illegal under the Americans with Disabilities Act and could be

seen as an unfair mark of disability.

Scores are sent to the student, his or her high school, and up to four colleges.[24]

Test section durations

Time is a major factor to consider in testing.

The ACT is generally regarded as being composed of somewhat easier questions (versus the SAT), but the time

allotted to complete each section increases the overall difficulty (equalizing it to the SAT). The ACT allots:

45 minutes for a 75-question English section

60 minutes for a 60-question Mathematics section35 minutes for a 40-question Reading Comprehension section35 minutes for a 40-question Science section

Comparatively, the SAT is structured such that the test taker is allowed at least one minute per question, on

generally shorter sections (25 or fewer questions).

Score cumulative percentages and comparison with SAT

Forty-five percent1,480,469 studentsof the 2009 high school graduating class took the ACT.[19][25] The

average composite score was a 21.1 in 2009.[19] Of 2009 test-takers, 668,165 (or 45%) were males, 808,097 (or

55%) were females, and 4,207 (or 0.3%) did not report a gender. [19] Nationwide, 638 students who reported

that they would graduate in 2009 received the highest ACT composite score of 36. [19]

The following is based on official ACT ACT-SAT concordance chart[26][27]

ACT percentiles are calculated onthe basis of the percent of test takers scoring the same score or a lower one, not (as is the case for many other

assessments) only the percent scoring lower.


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2005 distribution of ACT scores

SAT (withwriting test

addition)

ACTcomposite

score

Thepercentile of

students at orbelow this

score for theACT (not

SAT)

23802400 36 99.96%

22902370 35 99.7%

22202280 34 99%

21402210 33 99%

20802130 32 98%

20202070 31 97%

19802010 30 95%

19201970 29 93%

18601910 28 91%18001850 27 88%

17401790 26 85%

16801730 25 80%

16201670 24 75%

15601610 23 69%

15101550 22 62%

14501500 21 55%

13901440 20 48%

13301380 19 41%

12701320 18 34%

12101260 17 28%

11401200 16 21%

10601130 15 16%

9901050 14 11%

910980 13 6%

820900 12 3%

750810 11 1%


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Subtest Score

Thepercentile of


score

E 36 99%

E 35 99%

E 34 98%

E 33 97%

E 32 96%

E 31 94%

E 30 93%

E 29 91%

E 28 88%

E 27 85%

E 26 82%

E 25 78%

E 24 73%

E 23 68%

E 22 63%

E 21 57%

E 20 50%

E 19 43%

E 18 38%

E 17 33%

E 16 29%

E 15 24%

E 14 18%

E 13 14%

E 12 11%

E 11 09%M 36 99%

M 35 99%

M 34 99%

M 33 98%

M 32 97%

M 31 96%

M 30 94%


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Subtest Score

Thepercentile of


score

M 29 93%

M 28 91%

M 27 88%

M 26 84%

M 25 79%

M 24 74%

M 23 67%

M 22 61%

M 21 57%

M 20 52%

M 19 47%

M 18 41%

M 17 34%

M 16 26%

M 15 14%

M 14 06%

M 13 02%

M 12 01%

M 11 01%

R 36 99%

R 35 99%

R 34 99%

R 33 97%

R 32 95%

R 31 93%

R 30 91%R 29 87%

R 28 85%

R 27 82%

R 26 78%

R 25 75%

R 24 71%

R 23 66%


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Subtest Score

Thepercentile of


score

R 22 60%

R 21 54%

R 20 48%

R 19 42%

R 18 39%

R 17 30%

R 16 25%

R 15 19%

R 14 15%

R 13 10%

R 12 06%

R 11 03%

S 36 99%

S 35 99%

S 34 99%

S 33 99%

S 32 98%

S 31 97%

S 30 96%

S 29 95%

S 28 93%

S 27 91%

S 26 87%

S 25 83%

S 24 77%

S 23 70%S 22 62%

S 21 56%

S 20 47%

S 19 38%

S 18 34%

S 17 21%

S 16 19%


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Subtest Score

Thepercentile of


score

S 15 15%

S 14 11%

S 13 08%

S 12 05%

S 11 03%

[28]

[28]

See also

College admissions in the United StatesMath-verbal achievement gap on standardized testing

SAT, the main competitor to ACT's examinationList of admission tests to colleges and universities

PLAN (test)

References

^a

b

"About ACT: History" (http://www.act.org/aboutact/history.html) . [.archive.org/web

/20061008113919/http://www.act.org/aboutact

/history.html Archived] from the original on 8

October 2006. http://www.act.org/aboutact

/history.html. Retrieved October 25, 2006.Name

changed in 1996.

1.

^ "ACT Assessment (http://encarta.msn.com

/encyclopedia_761588246/ACT_Assessment.html) ",

Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2007.

Archived (http://www.webcitation.org/5kwDO8DsI)

October 31, 2009.

2.

^Associated Press. http://news.yahoo.com/sat-scores-edge-down-act-now-more-popular-

150110664.html.

3.

^ Marklein, Mary Beth (March 19, 2007). "All

four-year U.S. colleges now accept ACT test"

(http://www.usatoday.com/news/education

/2007-03-18-life-cover-acts_N.htm) . USA Today.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education

/2007-03-18-life-cover-acts_N.htm. Retrieved March

18, 2007.

4.

^ The Test (http://www.act.org/aap/) . (URL5.

accessed June 5, 2007).

^ 9681 Using Your Results(http://www.actstudent.org/pdf/uyar.pdf)

6.

^ Radunzal, J., Noble, J. (2003, April). "Tracking

2003 act-tested high school graduates: College

readiness, enrollment, and long-term success".

Retrieved from: http://www.act.org/research

/researchers/reports/pdf/ACT_RR2012-2.pdf

7.

^ Microsoft Word ACT Technical Manual.doc

(http://www.act.org/aap/pdf

/ACT_Technical_Manual.pdf)

8.

^ ACT Press Release : 2007 ACT College

Readiness Report News Release (http://www.act.org

/news/releases/2007/ndr.html)

9.

^ {{cite journal Beginning in 2013 all freshman

entering high school in the state of Ohio must take

the test in order to graduate. | quotes = | last =

Honawar | first = Vaishali | authorlink = | coauthors =

Alyson Klein | date = August 30, 2006 | title = ACT

Scores Improve; More on East Coast Taking the

SAT's Rival | journal = Education Week | volume =

26 | issue = 1 | pages = 16 | issn = 0277-4232 | doi =

| id = | url = http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost

/detail?vid=13&hid=3&sid=9abe575c-3a5a-4263-

10.


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