ACT Researchers Ready to Help

The Class Profile service provides summaries of information on the scores of an entire class of students. It allows the college to compare its class to students nationwide. The Prediction Research Service uses ACT Assessment scores to predict first-year grades. Predictions can be made for specific courses or for an overall grade-point average.

As data become available, researchers will be able to help colleges analyze the scores of their students and, eventually, compare those scores to the grades those students earn on campus.

“We also could compare the effectiveness of any local measure of writing ability with the effectiveness of the ACT Writing Test. That would be a good use of our services,” said Richard Sawyer, ACT’s assistant vice president of measurement and statistical research.

“The research is important because decisions about tests affect student success, and colleges want evidence to show that any specific policy enhances student success,” Sawyer said. The freshman class of 2006 will be the first class available for researchers to study.