Many Colleges Don’t Plan to Require Writing Tests in Admissions

Slightly more than half of post-secondary institutions that have responded have indicated they will not require a writing test, more than a quarter of the colleges will recommend but not require a writing test, and less than a quarter indicated they will require one.

“The early responses to our letter support our decision to make a writing component optional for students who take the ACT Assessment^® beginning in the 2004-2005 school year,” said Ferguson. “We don’t believe students should be forced to take a test
that their prospective college doesn’t require them to take.”

Officials in the California State University system announced to high schools that the CSU system, the nation’s largest university system with 23 campuses and more than 400,000 students, will not require incoming students to submit writing scores.

“The CSU has worked with the State Board of Education and the California Department of Education to develop an early assessment program,” said Charles B. Reed, chancellor of the California State University system and an ACT director.

“As a result, we obtain sufficient information about students’ writing skills through assessments they take in the eleventh grade. We don’t believe that a writing score from a national standardized test will enhance the information we receive from our own assessment programs.”

Some colleges are planning to “recommend but not require” a writing test. For example, at The Ohio State University, writing scores will be required for two years, beginning with students who enroll in the fall of 2006. The writing scores will be evaluated during the two-year period as school officials determine if the scores improve admissions and course-placement decisions.

“It is highly likely that the writing test will not significantly increase predictive power over and above that already provided by existing ACT tests,” said Ferguson. “If this is the case, schools will have to decide if it is appropriate to ask students to take another exam and pay higher test fees when schools will not receive information for admissions that significantly adds to what they already know about the students.”

ACT’s new Writing Test, now under development, will be introduced in the spring of 2005. The rest of the ACT Assessment will remain unchanged. It still will include tests in English, mathematics, reading, and science. It still will be scored on a 36-point scale.

“ACT strongly believes students need good writing skills,” Ferguson added. “However, many colleges and universities already use their own writing assessments during the admissions process. Other schools are satisfied with the information they are now receiving about students, including valuable information on writing skills contained in ACT English Test results.”