Middle School GEARS UP with EXPLORE^®

Lee, the GEAR UP counselor for the past three years at Washington Irving Middle School in the Los Angeles Unified School District, says, “One thing won’t make a student decide to go to college. It’s many things, day-to-day things, and the attitude and culture of the school.”

This past school year, Lee oversaw the administration of ACT’s EXPLORE for all 560 eighth graders at the school. EXPLORE is ACT’s educational planning and assessment program for eighth graders, which is followed by PLAN for tenth graders and the college entrance exam, the ACT Assessment, typically taken by high school juniors and seniors. All three of these curriculum-based programs, which are part of EPAS—ACT’s Educational Planning and Assessment System, link to provide students with information on their educational achievement and career interests.

“We were looking at providing more college testing experience for our students,” Lee says, “and we wanted information so the faculty could help prepare the students for college. ACT has such a good program that carries on through high school.”

Historically, Lee says, her school had given students the PSAT test in seventh grade to provide testing experience to lead into the SAT. But she became curious about the ACT Assessment. “I wanted to know more about the ACT, so I asked college admissions people, ‘What do you recommend?’ And I found out most all colleges accept the ACT equally with the SAT.

“They are two completely different tests and I wanted students to be aware of both types and to have the experience of taking them,” she explains.

“I found that giving the PSAT to our students was a negative experience because the test was so difficult. It’s geared toward eleventh graders. I didn’t want to do negative testing, so we went with ACT’s EXPLORE. It’s not a negative experience because it’s an achievement exam that gives information to the student and to the teachers,” she said. All three programs in EPAS—EXPLORE, PLAN, and the ACT Assessment—are reported on the same score scale.

One challenge Washington Irving Middle School faces, she says, is improving math and reading scores. The school typically scores average or below average in both subjects in annual Stanford 9 testing. With information from the EXPLORE program, called Standards for Transition, the school can work with each student to improve his or her knowledge, and can use the aggregate score information to make modifications to the school curriculum if necessary.

EXPLORE was introduced to Washington Irving teachers, administrators, and students in the fall of 2001, with testing in October. Lee says she faced some challenges with buy-in to the program, particularly with a staff of already overwhelmed teachers. But when the results came back and the teachers saw the information provided, attitudes changed. “The teachers had a better understanding of what the program could do and they were much more supportive. It’s still a challenge because the program has so much to offer, and the teachers have so many other responsibilities.”

Lee says teachers at her school have been equally impressed with the career information provided to students from EXPLORE, and many wished they had received personalized interest information themselves as students. “The World-of-Work Map is a wonderful component of all the ACT programs,” Lee says.

Lee tells of one teacher whose son took EXPLORE. She was compelled by the career information provided, and surprised at how much understanding she gained about her son’s interests and related career directions. The teacher also liked the science component of the test, which is not offered by the SAT I and PSAT tests.

The 560 students from the middle school will now move to three different high schools, and Lee will continue to work with the group, administering EXPLORE again this year. She says, “EXPLORE has so much to offer. I have never seen such a complete testing program. It ties in with career awareness and what is out there for the students, and it ties skills with interests. EXPLORE covers everything a testing program should have.”