ACT State and District Solutions
Why Statewide Testing?
Adopting all or some ACT assessments on a statewide basis provides significant advantages for educational and career planning, assessment, instructional support, and evaluation.
Opportunities
Statewide testing raises awareness and exposure among all students, rather than just self-selected, college-bound students. It is a great equalizer of opportunity, bringing more men, minorities, and middle- and low-income students into the enrollment pipeline.
Meaningful Data
Our norm and criterion-referenced assessments focus on the integrated, higher-order thinking skills students develop in grades K–12 that are important for success both during and after high school.
Flexibility
The assessment system is flexible, allowing customized State Allowed Accommodations, and test administration on designated weekdays or weekends.
Smart Business
States can expect to enjoy a high return on investment and to see a reduction in remediation.
In addition, ACT protects student privacy and facilitates easy integration of test results into state systems by using state-assigned IDs instead of Social Security numbers.
Accommodations
Learn more about differences between state-allowed and ACT-approved accommodations.
Issues in College Readiness
What kind of interpretations can be made on the basis of ACT scores?
Getting Started
Learn about the typical schedule for the process of setting up an ACT Statewide Testing program.
How It's Working
Raising expectations
A number of states have incorporated ACT college and career readiness programs into their high school systems. Not only do these help to prepare all students for college and career, but the assessment itself has intrinsic value to the students who take it—something that is not true of all student assessments.
The Condition of College and Career Readiness
Nearly two-thirds (64%) of all 2016 US high school graduates took the ACT, up from 59% last year and from 40% in 2006. As a result, this year's data are based on a more representative sample of the nation's graduating class than ever before.
State Partnerships
Alabama
ACT Aspire®, ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT Online Prep, ACT Quality Core®, ACT WorkKeys®, the ACT®
Alaska
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®
Arkansas
ACT Aspire®, ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®, the ACT®
Colorado
ACT WorkKeys®
Hawaii
ACT Aspire®, the ACT®
Illinois
ACT WorkKeys®
Indiana
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®
Iowa
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®
Kansas
ACT WorkKeys®
Kentucky
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT Quality Core®, ACT WorkKeys®, the ACT®
Louisiana
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®, the ACT®
Massachusetts
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®
Michigan
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®
Minnesota
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®, the ACT®
Mississippi
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®, the ACT®
Missouri
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®, the ACT®
Montana
ACT Online Prep, the ACT®
Nebraska
ACT Online Prep, the ACT®
Nevada
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®, the ACT®
New Mexico
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®
North Carolina
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®, PreACT, the ACT®
North Dakota
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®, the ACT®
Ohio
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®, the ACT®
Oklahoma
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®, PreACT, the ACT®
Oregon
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®
South Carolina
ACT WorkKeys®, the ACT®
South Dakota
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®
Tennessee
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®, the ACT®
Utah
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®, the ACT®
Virginia
ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®
Wisconsin
ACT Aspire®, ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®, the ACT®
Wyoming
ACT Aspire®, ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™, ACT WorkKeys®, the ACT®
Getting Started
The process for setting up an ACT Statewide Testing program typically follows the schedule below.
January
The state commits to the program, signing an agreement to proceed. ACT will provide a detailed description of the services. The state decides which testing dates will occur and which tests will be administered.
February/March
A launch meeting takes place, involving representatives from the state and the ACT implementation team. Final decisions are made about each party's roles and responsibilities and the testing schedule.
March/April
The state signs off on the description of services and the schedule, including affirmation of all critical dates (such as training workshops, interpretive workshops, and test dates), data transfers, reporting options, psychometric procedures, augmentation (if applicable), number of days, student population participation, school participation, state use questions, and data collection requirements.
April/May
Implementation training takes place for districts and key decision makers. The training sets expectations regarding the implementation of the assessment programs and must take place before the end of spring semester.
August/September
Training takes place for principals and school decision makers at the test sites. This sets expectations regarding the test site establishment process and appointments of testing staff.
October
Training takes place for test accommodations coordinators to set expectations regarding the process of administering accommodations.
November/December/January
Training takes place for school-level personnel. Each school must identify a Test Supervisor, a Back-up Test Supervisor, and Test Accommodations Coordinators for training.
March to May
Administration of the ACT on selected date
June to August
Aggregate reports are delivered to the schools, districts, and state.