New Kentucky Mandate Broadens Future Opportunities for Students

Madison McGhee has expanded her list of potential colleges, now that she knows her academic capabilities. McGhee, who is a senior at Highlands High School in Fort Thomas, Kentucky, took the ACT^® in the spring.

Highlands High School Principal Elgin Emmons works with a group of students during the Senior Seminar class he teaches.

“Because of my ACT scores, I’m considering colleges that I would never have given a second glance before taking the test,” said McGhee. “Scoring well on the ACT has encouraged me to take more chances by applying to competitive schools.”

McGhee was one of more than 42,000 juniors across Kentucky who took the ACT as part of a new state mandate. It requires all juniors in public schools to take the ACT, at state expense. The goal of the law is to better prepare students for college by identifying those who need help or should be encouraged to take more challenging courses.

Kentucky joins four other states that require the ACT for all high school juniors—Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, and Wyoming. (In Wyoming, students have the option of taking either the ACT or WorkKeys^®.) In Kentucky, the law also calls for all eighth graders to take EXPLORE^® and all tenth graders to take PLAN^®. EXPLORE, PLAN, and the ACT are elements of ACT’s College Readiness System.

Tom Christy, a student at Highlands High School, works on the computer during a science data experiment.

The ACT and PLAN are part of Kentucky’s Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS), which is designed to improve teaching and student learning in the state.

“The College Readiness System information complements our state achievement results by providing valuable insight into our secondary education agenda,” said Christine Powell, policy advisor, Office of Assessment and Accountability, Kentucky Department of Education.

“As the first state to mandate all three of these assessments, we are confident that the data about college readiness will allow our schools and districts to provide appropriate interventions for students who are not meeting ACT College Readiness Benchmarks, as well as more advanced learning opportunities for students who meet or exceed the benchmarks,” she added.

The new law is having a variety of effects on the state’s school districts. For some districts, mandatory testing is inspiring students who may never have given much thought to college to now consider it. For others, the new law is changing educator and student attitudes toward state-mandated assessments.

For the Fort Thomas Independent School District, the mandate is reinforcing what district officials have known all along: ACT’s College Readiness System motivates students.

Melissa Pinguely (left) and Sarah Gray work on a yearbook spread in journalism class at Highlands High School in Fort Thomas, Kentucky.

Located in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky suburban area, the Fort Thomas district has ranked as Kentucky’s highest-performing K-12 public school district on CATS testing for 13 consecutive years. The district’s Highlands High School is the third-highest ACT scoring school in the state.

Almost all students were already taking the tests in ACT’s College Readiness System before the state began requiring them. “The system appealed to us because it provides individual student data that helps us prepare students for high school and, ultimately, for success in college and the workplace,” said Fort Thomas Superintendent John Williamson.

The district has integrated ACT’s College Readiness Standards™ into the curriculum for 7-12 grades, he said. Teachers are becoming increasingly aware of the standards and are incorporating them into their instruction and assessments.

The district’s commitment to ACT’s College Readiness System has produced positive results. On average, 90 percent of the district’s high school graduates go to college. A report on the district’s graduates from the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education shows a decrease in the number of students who enrolled in remedial courses, especially in mathematics and English.

Since the mandate was implemented, district officials have seen significant changes in attitudes toward the assessments. Rather than leading teachers to teach to a test, the assessment is indeed informing teachers about skills and prompting them to teach specific key skills, such as problem solving and analyzing, and helping students connect knowledge to real-world applications. Students are better understanding the necessity of the assessments. They are taking advantage of ACT Online Prep™, which the district offers at no cost, and other assistance provided by teachers and counselors.

For Madison McGhee, the ACT is more than just another test. “My scores determine the colleges that I will apply to and the amount of financial aid I’ll receive. The ACT plays such a substantial role in my future that I had to take it seriously,” said McGhee.

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