ACTResearch|ResearchReport|June20251
InitialEvidenceSupportingInterpretationsof
ScoresfromtheEnhancedACTTest
JeffAllenandTyCruce
Introduction
TheACT?testhasevolvedtobettermeettheneedsofstudents.Thechangestothetestare
designedtohelpstudentsdothefollowing:
?performtheirbestontestday
?havetheflexibilityandchoicetodeterminehowtheywilltest
?demonstratetheirtruecapabilitiesandpotential
?tailortheirtestingexperiencetofittheirfuturegoalsandhighlighttheirstrengths
Supportingthisevolution,twoversionsoftheACTtestwereadministeredduringtheJune2024
nationaltestdate:thelegacyACTtestandanew,enhancedACTtest.Atalltestcentersthat
administeredthetestonline,studentswhotestedduringthatnationaltestdatewererandomly
assignedtotakeoneofthetwoversionsofthetest,andscoresfromeitherversionwereeligible
forcollegereporting.
Likethelegacytest,theenhancedtestincludesmultiple-choicetestsinEnglish,math,reading,
andscience.Theenhancedtestisshorterthanthelegacytestandallowsmoretimepertest
question(item).Theenhancedtestalsoincludesembeddedfieldtestitems,whicharenot
countedinstudents’scores.Acomparisonofthelegacyandenhancedtestspecificationsis
providedinTable1.
Inadditiontothechangestothenumberofitemsandtimeallowed,thereareadditional
differencesinthetestdesignfortheenhancedtest.Formoredetailsontestdesign,pleasesee
theDesignFrameworkfortheACTEnhancements(ACT,2025).
?2025byACTEducationCorp.Allrightsreserved.|R2425
ACTResearch|ResearchReport|June20252
Table1.EnhancedandLegacyACTTestSpecifications