Winter 2005 Activity: Two Tests Can Be Better Than One

The federal legislation known as No Child Left Behind requires state governments to assess their schools’ student performance annually. States and schools must meet their own standards, along with the expectations of college educators and employers, to prepare students for life beyond high school. Is one measurement tool enough to meet all these demands?

“States should really consider using multiple tools to measure student achievement,” said Sherri Miller, director of ACT’s Elementary and Secondary School Programs department. Using both the ACT Assessment and ACT's WorkKeys^® exams is an option for states that want a broader measure of student skills.

Photo of student The tests are designed for different purposes. The ACT Assessment measures college readiness; WorkKeys measures work readiness. While they both focus on some of the same skills—such as reading and math—their contexts and skill ranges differ. For example, the WorkKeys Applied Mathematics exam includes low-range application skills, such as single-step addition and subtraction, that some lower-skill jobs require. The ACT Assessment includes such advanced mathematics skills as pre-calculus and algebra II. Using both the ACT Assessment and WorkKeys allows the state to measure a broader skill range, with a scope that tests readiness for both college and the working world.

“Teachers want to prepare students to perform well in academic, occupational, and civic contexts. Using both the ACT Assessment and WorkKeys allows students to demonstrate proficiency in many of the critical skills they might need for their own personal success,” Miller said.

Illinois does use both. It uses all four subject-matter subtests of the ACT Assessment and two ACT WorkKeys tests in its Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE), which is required for all eleventh graders in public high schools. The scores complement each other and create a broader picture of students' skills.

“By using both tests, Illinois is better able to measure student abilities against their state standards,” Miller said. Since introducing the ACT Assessment and WorkKeys into the PSAE in spring of 2001, Illinois representatives have seen several positive outcomes:

Increase in college enrollment. In 2002, Illinois colleges saw an enrollment increase of 23 percent among ACT-tested fall freshmen, the first graduating class to be affected by ACT’s additions to the PSAE. “Some juniors are now choosing to go to college who never thought about it before,” said Miller. “They received their ACT scores after taking the PSAE and were surprised at how well they did.”

A college readiness increase. Based on their ACT scores, more Illinois graduates were ready for college algebra (a 21 percent increase) and English composition (a 29 percent increase) in 2003 than in 2001.

WorkKeys in tandem with the ACT Assessment helps states better prepare their students for the workforce. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that more than 40 percent of students go directly from high school into the workforce, and WorkKeys testing encourages schools to teach the skills they will need to succeed. “WorkKeys can test reading comprehension in a work setting, like reading to understand instructions to explaining the rationale of workplace procedures or policies,” Miller said. “So WorkKeys not only adds to the range of skills but also the range of contexts within which the skills are assessed.”