For a flexible solution to the varied challenges involved in helping students reach their goals, consider ACT's EPAS® Educational Planning and Assessment System.
This comprehensive system brings together a sequence of assessment programs:
- EXPLORE® (8th or 9th grade)
- PLAN® (10th grade)
- the ACT (11th & 12th grades)
- WorkKeys® (9–12th grades)
EPAS offers special reporting programs called linkage reports and College Readiness Standards Information Services.
This unique combination can meet your school's needs in four key service areas:
Assessment
Students need to know their academic strengths and weaknesses so they can choose courses or get extra help where they need it.
EPAS:
- Focuses on standards-based assessments that emphasize higher-order thinking skills important for success in school and work
- Provides information to document student academic achievement and program effectiveness
- Contributes information for appropriate course placement decisions
Student Planning
Students also need a plan that includes a general direction for their life. Without such a plan, they are less likely to stay in school.
EPAS:
- Provides a systematic way to explore careers and educational requirements associated with those careers
- Motivates students to see the connection between course selections and achievement and their lifelong objectives
- Increases student access to post-high school options
Instructional support
Teachers need clear targets for integrating essential skills into classroom instruction.
EPAS:
- Connects teaching, learning, and assessment
- Provides information helpful in aligning curriculum to life-relevant goals and objectives
- Relates what is being taught to what is being learned
- Suggests high-quality instructional activities
Evaluation
Administrators need a way to evaluate student progress in acquiring these skills from eighth to tenth to twelfth grade.
EPAS:
- Documents accomplishment of standards and objectives
- Provides evidence of student change and growth over time
- Provides information to make informed decisions about relative strengths and weaknesses of instructional programs