It Is Written: Practice Makes Perfect

“By offering the Writing Test as an option, we are providing a flexible solution rather than imposing a single approach on all students and institutions,” said Richard L. Ferguson, ACT chief executive officer and chairman of the board.

The multiple-choice English Test has always measured skills necessary for effective writing, including punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, organization, and style. It provides effective, helpful information to many institutions. Other institutions supplement that information with their own writing assessments; some of these colleges plan to replace their writing assessments with the ACT Writing Test, others plan to use Writing Test results in addition to the information they now use.

“A writing sample gives us an idea of where these students are,” said English professor Owen Rogel, of St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. “It’s not that the test is the last word on a writer. We don’t see this as the essay that pigeonholes a writer forever and ever, but I think it can give teachers an idea of where a student is with his or her writing.”

Students will decide whether to take the Writing Test based on the requirements of the institutions they are considering. Institutional preferences will be posted on ACT’s website.

Students who register for the ACT Plus Writing will take the Writing Test after completing the four multiple-choice tests. Taking the Writing Test will not affect scores on the multiple-choice tests. Rather, students will receive a traditional Composite score for those tests, as well as two additional scores: a Combined English/Writing score on a scale of 1 through 36 and a Writing Test subscore on a scale of 2 through 12. They also will receive comments on their essays.

The Writing Test is a thirty-minute essay test that measures writing skills emphasized in high school English classes and in entry-level college composition courses. The test consists of one writing prompt that defines an issue and describes two points of view on that issue. Students are asked to write in response to a question about their position on the issue. The score will not be affected by the point of view taken. Prompts are designed to be appropriate for response in thirty minutes, and to reflect students’ interests and experiences.

An essay will be evaluated on its ability to show that a student can:

• Express judgments by taking a position on the issue in the prompt
• Maintain a focus on the topic throughout the essay
• Develop a position using logical reasoning and support for ideas
• Organize ideas logically
• Use language clearly and effectively

The essays will be scored holistically, that is, on the basis of the overall impression created by the elements of the writing. Two trained readers will give each essay a rating from 1 (low) to 6 (high). The sum of those ratings is the Writing Test subscore. If the readers’ ratings disagree by more than one point, a third reader will evaluate the essay and resolve the discrepancy.

How to Do Your Best on the Writing Test Practice all sorts of writing beforehand Pace yourself Plan the points you want to make in your essay Write Review your essay

Many students, understandably, are nervous about this new measure of their skills. They really should not be, though, because like the four subject-matter tests that have always been a part of the ACT Assessment, the new Writing Test is based on skills taught in high schools nationwide. Students have been preparing for this test for years.

Of course, a student can always improve skills through practice. Writing skills can be strengthened by writing essays, stories, poems, editorials, letters to the editor, and journals. Writing for different audiences and purposes is good practice; even composing e-mails and letters to friends is useful. Students may want to look for opportunities to get feedback on their writing. Students who read a lot also will likely have an edge over those who do not read widely.

“If you’re interested in writing, read, read, and read. See what other writers do,” advised English professor Rogal.

The writing students do in high school is the best preparation for the ACT Writing Test. Students who have taken full advantage of opportunities to write—writing classes, subject-matter courses that rely on written work, and extracurricular activities that include writing—should feel confident about their performance on the new Writing Test. The best way to help students prepare for the Writing Test is to advise them to budget time carefully, understand the question, plan and organize their ideas, and develop those ideas using specific reasons and examples. This same advice applies to most of the writing that students do in high school and college. Preparation techniques that are not advised include providing students with ways to prewrite their essays or with formulaic frameworks for their writing. These methods won’t help writers do well on the Writing Test because the questions on the test are so specific.

For the latest updates on the introduction of the ACT Writing Test, go to www.act.org/aap/writing.