Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion ACT changes

ACT is today unveiling a series of changes -- most involving the addition of new scores -- to its college admissions test.
The changes to the test itself are relatively minor, such that ACT officials predict that a student taking the exam this year (under the current system) and next year (under the new one) might not notice the difference during the test itself. But the score report will have a series of additions to the 1-36 scores students now receive for each section (English, mathematics, reading and science) and as a composite score of those four.
The new scores will include:

A STEM score based on students' scores on the math and science sections.

An English language score based on students' scores on English, reading and writing.

A "progress toward career readiness" score that will be based on students' demonstrated knowledge in areas that could set them up for success in the work place.

A "text complexity progress indicator" that will be based on all of the writing passages (not just in the reading section).
New scores on the optional writing test (on which students currently receive an overall score) so they will receive separate additional scores on ideas and analysis, development and support, organization, and language use.