InterpretingScoresonthe
EnhancedACT:GuidanceforK-12
andHigherEducationInstitutions
JamesRiddlesperger
ACTStateandFederalPolicy
?2025byACTEducationCorp.Allrightsreserved.
ACTStateFederalPolicy|InterpretingScoresontheEnhancedACT1
EnhancingtheACT
Lastyear,ACTannouncedaseriesofenhancementsdesignedtomodernizetheACTtest
andofferstudentsmorechoiceandflexibilityindemonstratingtheirreadinessforlifeafter
highschool.Theenhancementsprovidestudentsmoreflexibilitybyallowingthemto
choosewhethertotakethescienceassessment,therebyreducingthetestlengthbyupto
one-third.Statesanddistrictsthatadministeraschool-dayACTarealsogivenmore
flexibility:theycanchoosetooffertheACTwithorwithoutscience,astheycurrently
chooseforwriting.Whenscienceandwritingarepartoftheiradministration,theyhavethe
choicetoadministerthosesectionsonaseparatedayfromthethreecoresectionsof
English,mathematics,andreading.
Theseupdatesaddressfeedbackfromeducatorsand
Weseektocreatea
researchersaboutbalancingefficiencyandaccuracyinlarge-
fairer,moreaccessible
scaleassessments.Byreducingtestfatigueandsimplifying
experiencewhile
certainelementsoftheassessment,weseektocreatea
preservingtheACT’s
historicroleasafairer,moreaccessibleexperiencewhilepreservingtheACT’s
nationallyrecognizedhistoricroleasanationallyrecognizedmeasureofacademic
measureofacademicachievementandcollegereadiness.Wehavemadethese
achievementandcollegeenhancementswhilemaintainingthetest’sreliabilit