Research Publications
Research Reports
Research topics include test reliability and validity, the meaning of test-score differences, racial/ethnic achievement differences, gender bias, occupations, interests, and related subjects.
Information Briefs
ACT's Information Brief Series presents quick snapshots of recent ACT research findings on a variety of topics in education and work, drawing on its extensive college readiness and career skills data.
Technical Manuals
Technical manuals provide detailed information about test development, scaling, scoring, norming, equating, and validity evidence for the ACT, the ACT Writing Test, EXPLORE, PLAN, QualityCore, DISCOVER, and the UNIACT.
All manuals are in PDF.
- The ACT Technical Manual (156 pages, 1,872KB)
- The ACT Interest Inventory Technical Manual (68 pages, 350KB)
- ACT Writing Test Technical Report (25 pages, 119KB)
- EXPLORE Technical Manual (69 pages, 373KB)
- PLAN Technical Manual (78 pages, 751KB)
- QualityCore Technical Manual (73 pages, 678KB)
Fairness Reports
These reports describe the extensive fairness reviews the EXPLORE, PLAN, and ACT tests undergo before they are administered. The reports also describe the statistical analyses for bias (DIF) the test results undergo and present the results of those analyses for the test year reported on. The DIF analyses show, without exception, that the number of items showing DIF is lower than would be expected by chance alone. The reviews and analyses documented in the reports strongly support the position that the tests are fair.
All reports are in PDF.
- 2009–2010 Fairness Report for the EXPLORE Tests (22 pages, 137KB)
- 2009–2010 Fairness Report for the PLAN Tests (22 pages, 136KB)
- 2011–2012 Fairness Report for the ACT Tests (22 pages, 139KB)