5. PROGRESS STANDARDS
ACT’s College ACT College
Readiness Readiness
Benchmarks Standards™
RESEARCH RESEARCH
Student success in college- ACT National
entry courses in a nationally Curriculum Survey™
representative sample (Grades 7-14)
of colleges
READINESS
for college and
workforce training
programs
ASSESSMENT
EXPLORE ® ,
PLAN ® , the
INSTRUCTION
ACT® , and
Student QualityCore™
RESEARCH Readiness RESEARCH
Inventory.
Standards-based and Course objectives based
normative comparisons on high-performing
schools
6. ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks
EXPLORE
Test College Course 8th Grade 9th Grade PLAN The ACT
English English Composition 13 14 15 18
Math Algebra 17 18 19 22
Reading Social Sciences 15 16 17 21
Science Biology 20 20 21 24
► Empirically-Derived
► 50% chance of achieving a B or higher or about a 75% chance of
achieving a C or higher in the corresponding credit-bearing college
course
7. ACT’s College Readiness Standards™
► Direct link between what students have learned and what
they are ready to learn next.
► Suggested learning experiences provide links between the
Standards in one score range and those in the next
(higher) score range.
► Ideas for progressing to the next score range demonstrate
ways that information learned from standardized test
results can be used to inform classroom instruction.
9. Connecting Standards to the Classroom
► Assists in organizing teaching practices
► Offers sequence for delivering content
► Provides clear scope of what must be taught to all students
11. All About the ACT
► ACT – four multiple-choice sections
► ACT with Writing – four multiple-choice sections
plus 30-minute writing section
► Both tests offered six times each year in the United
States
14. Calculating the Score
► First we count the number of questions on each test that were
answered correctly
– No penalty for guessing!
► Then we convert raw scores (number of correct answers on each test)
to "scale scores."
► Composite score and each test score (English, Mathematics,
Reading, Science) range from 1-36
– 0-0.49 rounded down; 0.5-0.99 rounded up
► We also compute seven subscores from 1-18
– They do not add up to the overall composite score
16. Score Reporting
► October 22, 2011:
– November 8, 2011 – December 23, 2011
► December 10, 2011:
– December 27, 2011 – February 3, 2012
► February 11, 2012:
– February 27, 2012 – April 6, 2012
► April 14, 2012:
– April 30, 2012 – June 8, 2012
► June 9, 2012:
– June 25, 2012 – August 3, 2012
17. Score Reporting
► Online; CD; paper reporting to high schools and
colleges
► Reports to colleges/universities
► Changing report recipients
– Can be changed through ACT online account
through noon of Thursday after Saturday test date
18. Score Reporting
► Up to six scores sent per test date administration
► Beyond six or sent after testing:
– $10 per regular report per school
• Processed within one week; sent within two weeks
following
– $15 per priority report per school
• Processed within two business days; sent within 3-4
business days
19. Test Information Release
► Available for December, April, June test dates
► Cost: $18
► Includes list of answers, a copy of the multiple-choice test
questions used to determine your score, the answer key, and
scoring instructions
– Writing test: includes writing prompt, scoring rubric, and
assigned scores
► Request within 3 months of testing; arrives 4 weeks after score
report mailed
20. The Writing Test
► Educator’s Guide to the Writing Test (online
resource)
– Includes copy of essay at each score range
► Essay View
– www.act.org/essayview
– Review essays written by students who have
released their ACT Writing scores to your school
– Accessible for up to one year after the examinee's
high school graduation
21. Fee Waivers
► All forms go through counselors
► Students are eligible for two waivers (ACT or ACT with Writing)
► Must meet one of the below indicators of need:
– Family receives low-income public assistance
– Student is ward of the state
– Student resides in foster home
– Student is homeless
– Student participates in free or reduced-lunch program
– Student participates in federally-funded TRIO program
– Family income is at/below 2010 Bureau of Labor Statistics Low
Standard Budget
22. Arranged Testing
► Religious Faith Prohibits Saturday Testing and no non-
Saturday Test Center Established for Any Test Date Within 50
Miles
► No Test Center in the Country for Any Test Date
► Within the U.S. or Canada only, no Test Center established for
any test date within 50 miles
► Homebound (confined to home due to medical reasons) on All
Test Dates
► Confined to a Hospital on All Test Dates
► Confined to a Correctional Institution from September 2011
through June 2012
23. Accommodated Testing
► To be filled out by counselor or other school personnel
► Student must possess and provide documentation of both:
– Professionally Diagnosed Disability.
• If diagnosed for the FIRST time before September 2008,
reconfirmation is required within the last 3 years.
• If FIRST diagnosed within the last 3 years, full written
documentation must be submitted with the application.
– Current IEP, Section 504 Plan, or Accommodations
• Plan must document ALL accommodations requested are provided
in school. Submit a copy of your current Individualized Education
Program (IEP), Section 504 Plan, or school accommodations plan.
24. Becoming a Test Center
► Benefits to students:
– Be able to take the ACT in a familiar environment.
– Be able to take the ACT close to home.
– Be more comfortable taking the ACT.
► Benefits to schools:
– Demonstrate your commitment to college readiness.
– Encourage students to go to college.
– Provide a valuable service to your students, parents, and community.
► Requirements:
– A staff member to serve as the Test Supervisor (paid by ACT)
– Other school staff willing to serve as room supervisors and proctors (paid
by ACT)
– Space for testing on national test dates
25. Looking Ahead …
► Collegeand Career Readiness Information System
– To debut in winter/spring 2012
► Five
years of EXPLORE/PLAN data; three years of
ACT data
► Accessible by any individuals within school/district
granted permission by principal/superintendent
32. Benchmarks
EXPLORE
Test College Course 8th Grade 9th Grade PLAN The ACT
English English Composition 13 14 15 18
Math Algebra 17 18 19 22
Reading Social Sciences 15 16 17 21
Science Biology 20 20 21 24
37. World of Work Map
► www.act.org/wwm
► Originally introduced in 1973 by ACT, based on
research from Dr. John Holland
– Most recently updated in 2001
► Includes six clusters, 12 regions, and 26 career areas
total
45. Commonly Asked Questions
► ShouldI retest?
– Of multiple test-takers:
• 57% increased composite score on retest
• 21% had no change in composite score
• 22% decreased composite score
► Capon multiple testing?
– 12 times.
46. Commonly Asked Questions
► What if I have problems on test day?
– Test Center Feedback Form
• Must be submitted within two weeks of test
– Cancelled scores by administrators can be
questioned by student/school by contacting ACT
47. Resources for Students and
Parents
► www.actstudent.org
► ACT Online Prep – student
► The Real ACT Prep Guide
► ACT Question of the Day
► Using Your ACT Results
48. Resources for Teachers and
Staff
► Curriculum Review Worksheets
► Connecting College Readiness Standards to the
Classroom
► College
Readiness Standards Posters
– Aggregate and separated by content area
49. Resources for Counselors
► www.act.org/aap
► Preparing for the ACT
► Get Set for College – Ohio edition
► ACT user guide
► ACT Online Prep – school version
► ACT sample test booklets/retired tests
► Forms – fee waiver eligibility, paper registration, accommodated testing
50. Ohio Office
Rose Babington
rose.babington@act.org
(614) 470-9828
Editor's Notes
OBJECTIVE: To set the stage and review the objectives of the workshop. NOTES: To accomplish this objective we will be using a workbook to guide our discussion and activities. This is a discussion based, interactive workshop! We are going to: Translate scores into skills and standards. Use critical components of Student Score Reports. Understand the value of aggregating data. Learn what tools are available to engage your entire school or district staff in meaningful conversations around college and career planning, readiness, standards, curriculum, intervention, and more.
OBJECTIVE: To survey the room and be aware of who is present. Housekeeping items. Point out the materials they will need. Workbook foundation of the workshop Audience survey POSSIBLE AUDIENCE QUESTIONS Quick Room Survey: If this is your first CCRW raise your hand. If you have data on students in your school raise your hand. If you use any ACT solutions and products raise your hand. How many teachers? How many new counselors? Review your roster so you know who is in the audience or do a quick poll based on roles: middle school counselors principals curriculum superintendents teachers
To know the foundation of ACT is to better understand why we do what we do. Why we have the programs and solutions that we do. And how ACT is not the end-all-be-all to your problems, but how it fits in to your overall landscape of preparing your students to be college AND career ready. ACT is a not for profit, mission driven organization that provides curriculum based assessment derived from over 50 years of empirical data.
OBJECTIVE: Explanation of ACT’s mission and the College and Career Readiness System. NOTES: (DON’T CALL IT CCRS, CALL IT WHAT IT IS) Use the graphic to explain the CCRS – Research, EXPLORE, PLAN, the ACT, QualityCore and SRI. The CCRS can be a response to intervention. Less is more – values and benefits of the system will be demonstrated. Must include an overview discussion of QualityCore and SRI. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION QualityCore QC is a uniquely research-based curriculum program designed to raise the quality and intensity of 12 high school core courses. Uses student achievement data to ensure the quality, consistency, and rigor of high school courses. Provides teachers with model lessons, model units, formative assessment item pools, and end-of-course assessments to help improve the quality, consistency, and rigor of core preparatory courses. Provides valid and reliable measures of student achievement. Allows educators to longitudinally monitor student achievement in becoming ready for college and workforce training programs by assessing progress on a course-by-course basis. Provides teachers with useful formative feedback about student progress that can be used to guide instructional interventions. Provides research-based professional development designed to support data-driven decisions. Provides a system for evaluating the long-term impact of varying instructional delivery models on student learning and teacher practice. Provides assessment information that, when combined with ACT scores, can be used to make college course placement decisions and to award college credit. SRI – Student Readiness Inventory The Student Readiness Inventory (SRI) – Middle School is designed to identify youth at academic risk by augmenting standardized achievement testing with measures of important psychosocial indicators. It is a low-stakes, self-reported inventory made up of ten scales (106 items, 4th-grade reading level) that can be generally organized into three broad domains that have been shown to be predictive of academic performance and persistence: Motivation includes personal characteristics that help students to succeed academically by focusing and maintaining energies on goal-directed activities. Social engagement includes interpersonal factors that influence students’ successful integration into their environment. Self-regulation includes cognitive and affective processes used to monitor, regulate, and control behavior related to learning. The SRI captures students’ perceptions of themselves, their families’ commitment to education, school-related factors, and important biographical information.
Trap: Biology as the standard. This decision was based on our National Curriculum Survey of over 200,000 middle school, high school and postsecondary educators and administrators that identified Biology as the ‘entry-level’ Science course. Trap: How stable are the benchmarks? The benchmarks are empirically derived and are based on course grades earned by more than 900,000 students in a nationally represented population of both two year and four year postsecondary institutions. They are nationally normed, so they cannot determine probability of success at a particular institution (ACT’s Course Placement Service can assist 2 and 4-year institutions in creating institutional specific benchmarks), but they provide a good overall view of a student’s college readiness. Trap: Why do the Benchmark scores vary? This was research based and ACT made choices on where to draw the lines- guidelines . Based off of the National Curriculum Survey, ACT also determined the levels of proficiency that initially indicate a higher probability of success in the four core subject areas, and therefore determined the specific benchmark scores for each. Trap: Placement vs. Benchmark The highlighted benchmarks on this slide provide an overall view of a student’s readiness for college. As mentioned before, these are nationally normed benchmarks, and in order to use such scores for placement at a particular college/university, an institution would have to work with ACT to complete a Course Placement Service that would provide schools with institutional specific benchmarks for use in placement.
Curriculum Alignment ... a process of interpreting learning standards and developing learning objectives that are targeted directly to the standards. According to Norm Webb (1997) curriculum alignment can be defined as the degree to which expectations and assessments are in agreement and serve in conjunction with one another to guide the system in assuring that students learn what they are expected to know and do. In an aligned system all content standards must be accounted for in some manner (Mitchell 1996).
