QualityCore®
Year Introduced
2008
Intended Users
High school educators and administrators
Purpose/Description
QualityCore is the high school instructional improvement component of ACT’s College and Career Readiness System, a series of linked and longitudinal assessments and instructional improvement programs that prepare students for success in college and beyond.
ACT research and development teams partnered with the nation’s leading educators to develop this program designed to raise the quality and intensity of high school core courses. Course standards were validated by a group of teachers nationwide.
Components include:
- rigorous course standards
- instructional resources
- formative item pool
- end-of-course assessments
- progress monitoring
- professional development
Volume/Number of Users
More than 500,000 exams have been administered since the program began in 2008. Usage spans 35 of the 50 states.
Additional Facts
Schools and districts may use QualityCore to increase students’ college and career readiness by raising the overall quality and rigor of high school core courses. QualityCore helps teachers focus on the essential skills students need most to be ready for success.
With QualityCore, educators can:
- Be armed with the resources, tools, and training they need to successfully reach and teach all students in their classrooms
- Focus on fewer, clearer, and higher course standards
- Use formative assessments to guide instruction and make targeted interventions
- Employ the program’s flexible resources to improve and align their instructional methods
- Measure student progress over time through benchmarks and end-of-course assessments, make adjustments as needed, and customize instruction
- Customize instruction to the needs of specific classrooms, schools, and districts
- Use research-based professional development resources and training opportunities to make better decisions based on data
With QualityCore, building and district leaders can be:
- assured that what’s being taught in the classroom is effective, targeted, and customized to meet students’ needs for college and career readiness
- certain that the quality of instruction and the intensity of learning are consistent in each classroom and each school
QualityCore course standards thoroughly address all of the Common Core State Standards for high schools. The program’s course standards in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language, and Mathematics are aligned 100 percent to the Common Core standards.
