ACT to Allow Students to Retake Individual Test

The testing company will also create a so-called superscore which uses the student’s best scores from each section.

By Lauren Camera, Senior Education Writer

STUDENTS TAKING THE ACT 
next year will have the option to retake individual sections of the college entrance exam instead of the entire exam, making it easier for students applying to college to submit a higher score.

"Students come first at ACT, and these groundbreaking new options will directly benefit them, providing more choices, an improved testing experience, and a better opportunity to showcase their readiness and reach their maximum potential," Suzana Delanghe, ACT chief commercial officer, said in a statement. "With these changes, ACT is evolving to meet students in the digital world in which they live. We want to do a better job of helping them succeed."

The change is one of three the testing company announced Tuesday, part of a larger strategy to adjust to an ever-changing higher education landscape.

In addition to allowing students to retake individual section tests to improve their overall ACT composite score, the company also announced that students will have the option of online or paper testing for those who want faster results – two days compared to two weeks – and that the company will now report a "superscore" for students who have taken the ACT test more than once.

The so-called superscore will give colleges the option to use a student's best scores from every time they took the ACT to help guide their admission and scholarship decisions. Delanghe said the change was driven by new company research that suggests that superscoring can be more predictive of how students will perform in their college courses than other scoring methods. Many schools already do this on their own.

Calculate your superscore

"Our research shows that ACT scores for students who take individual section tests are consistent with those earned when they take the entire test," Delanghe said in the statement. "We are simply offering new ways to take the ACT."

All three changes are set to go into effect in September 2020.

The announcement comes as a record number of colleges and universities are dropping their college entrance exam requirements.

There’s been a continuing growth of colleges that that don’t require the ACT or SAT. There are many others that give less weight to it than in the past. Two articles about that: 

  1. https://www.newsweek.com/colleges-are-dropping-act-sat-requirements-look-schools-that-dont-use-test-scores-1465062
  2. https://blog.prepscholar.com/the-complete-guide-to-sat-optional-colleges

Please view the full article here.

 

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