Three major changes were recently announced by ACT and I had the opportunity to listen to testing expert and owner of Applerouth, Jed Applerouth, explain the changes and how they will impact students. Here is my recap.
Computer Based Testing will be offered in some testing locations beginning September 2020.
Sectional Retesting will be offered (for students who have taken 1 full ACT) beginning September 2020.
Superscore Reports including test dates with highest subsection scores and single section retakes will be available to send colleges (applicable for colleges who Superscore the ACT).
About the Changes – Digital Testing
Beginning in July 2020, students can register for a digital testing location and for sectional retesting starting with the September 2020 test. Students will continue to have the option to register for a paper testing location.
Test centers will supply the computers for digital testing. Students do not bring their own device. It is expected that due to scarcity of equipment at schools, there will be a supply & demand issue with digital test centers. Register early if you prefer a digital test. You may have to drive further to a digital location.
The content, timing and scoring of the test is not changing. The calculator policy is staying the same as well.
Students need to practice to become fluent in the technology for digital testing. Currently there are three prep options available. Private companies including Applerouth will launch their own materials soon as well.
ACT Academy https://actacademy.act.org/profile/signin
ACT Online Prep ($39.95) https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/test-preparation/act-online-prep.html
New tools will be available in the digital format including answer masking, answer eliminating, line delineation, and a bookmarking tool to flag individual questions.
Benefits of the Digital Test
A pop-up timer will be built in to help with pace and minimize reliance on proctor.
Results will be available in 2 business days (up from 10).
For students with “stop the clock” and 1.5 times extended time, accommodations will be built in. Importantly, color contrast will be available now to serve students with dyslexia and other disabilities. Digital testing will not be available yet for students with 2 or 3x extended time.
The future of testing is digital and testing security drives this change. There will be an eventual change to Computer Adaptive Testing in which no student gets the same test.
About the Changes – Section Retesting
Students who have taken one official full ACT (dating back to 2016) will be eligible for section retesting.
Section retesting will only be available in digital format and will be available on every testing date beginning with September, October, December 2020. Registration opens in July 2020.
It is assumed that only schools who Superscore the ACT will accept section retesting scores. Policies from schools will be forthcoming.
It is still unclear if writing will be allowed as a single section but according to Jed Applerouth, Applerouth test prep company, it is likely colleges will accept it as a single section even for students who have not taken the writing section before. However, this may prove to be a moot point since the writing section is expected to be almost obsolete in the very near future.
Benefits of Subject Retesting
Shorter testing days could be beneficial for students with attention deficit and students with undiagnosed learning disabilities.
For all students, more focused preparation may be helpful. Students can tackle the more cognitively demanding section first to improve that score.
About the Changes – Superscore Reporting
Currently, students who wish to report Superscores (score calculated from highest individual section scores from different test dates) must send all test dates contributing to the Superscore to the colleges who Superscore. Students must pay to send each test date.
Beginning with the September 2020 test, ACT will provide an option to request a Superscore report consisting of any testing dates in which you received a highest subsection score and any section retest scores. This report will be sent in place of sending each individual test date.
Students who wish to cancel scores from a given test date will continue to have the option to do so via a written request to ACT.
What do the changes mean for current juniors?
Current juniors should not rely on subject retesting as part of their testing plan, however, if juniors wish to retest a particular subject, they should register immediately in July for the September test. September scores can be used for early action and early decision deadlines and October scores can be used for regular decision deadlines. Currently we do not know the policies of colleges with regard to accepting single section scores so it is important not to rely on this as part of your testing strategy and be sure to carefully verify the policies of each college once they are released.
What do the changes mean for current sophomores and freshmen?
Current sophomores and freshmen should be able to use single section retakes pretty universally for colleges who Superscore. Hopefully any issues with the rollout will be mitigated by then.