The ACT Assessments across Broad Domains
As mentioned in the preceding section, based on our own experience and the research literature, we have organized this framework into four broad domains. First, the ACT® test focuses on achievement in broad cognitive domains––tests grounded in the ACT National Curriculum Survey®. These academic domains also require students to demonstrate complex reasoning in the core academic content of English language arts, science, and mathematics. Second, broad cross-cutting cognitive competencies that are not specific to any one academic domain (e.g., mathematics), such as critical thinking, problem solving, and metacognition, have been shown to be related to college and career success (Conley, 2011). This sort of cross-cutting capability is now more directly addressed by a fourth broad domain, which can be viewed as not only contributing to students’ core academic achievement, but also positioning them for success across a variety of activities and settings. Third, behaviors and psychosocial factors clearly play an important role in education and work success, and ACT has increasingly approached readiness in terms of behaviors that are related to effort, interpersonal engagement, and appropriate conduct (Robbins et al., 2004). Fourth, students need help navigating the complex decisions involved in achieving education and work success, and ACT has addressed this need in a variety of ways, including work that combines academic assessment scores with an assessment of interests to help guide education and career decisions (e.g., ACT, 2014b).
An underlying assumption of the ACT portfolio of tools and solutions is that education and work readiness represents a continuum across one’s life span rather than an isolated point in time (e.g., high school graduation). Acknowledging the importance of the K–Career continuum, ACT assessments cover the longitudinal nature of the continuum as well as the multidimensional nature of education and work readiness and success. It is important to emphasize that skill acquisition, learning, and personal growth and development does not end at the culmination of high school or college. This is especially true in light of the fact that the majority of individuals will hold numerous jobs over their lifetimes. Based on information collected from 1978 to 2010, the mean number of jobs held by individuals from age 18 to 47 was 11.3 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012b). Over a quarter of respondents indicated that they had held 15 or more jobs. Clearly, the need to assess and enhance readiness for what comes next continues throughout one’s career. Many of the constructs highlighted in the navigation domain (e.g., networking, job searching, lifelong learning) facilitate transitions as people explore, apply for jobs, and move into new positions and roles throughout their lives.
Core Academic Skills
Among its solutions, ACT is best known for the ACT test, a curriculum-based educational achievement test comprising four academic subject tests (English, mathematics, reading, and science). The ACT is primarily completed by high school juniors and seniors. In 2014, 57% of all high school graduates in the US and virtually 100% of students in 12 states completed the ACT. To provide feedback on students’ readiness for college, empirically derived benchmarks have been developed to identify the level of knowledge and skills students need in each of the four academic areas to have a high likelihood of earning a B or higher in typical first-year college courses (ACT, 2004; Allen & Sconing, 2005; Allen, 2013). Table 1 displays the subject-specific benchmarks, which were derived by estimating the ACT subject test score associated with a 50% probability of earning a B or higher in the typical credit-bearing first-year course completed by students in the relevant subject matter. These benchmarks are based on a sample of 214 institutions and more than 230,000 students from across the United States (Allen, 2013).
With the goal of providing diagnostic feedback to students at earlier grades, ACT developed ACT Plan® for tenth-grade students and ACT Explore® for eighth- and ninth-grade students. Both ofthese exams cover the same content domains as the ACT. The ACT College Readiness Benchmarks have been mapped back to performance on these assessments, providing students with earlier feedback concerning whether they are on track for college readiness (ACT, 2006).
Research indicates that feedback provided in eighth grade may still be too late to allow students who are not on track for college readiness to get on track by the end of high school (ACT, 2008; Dougherty, 2014). Only a very small percentage of students who are off track in eighth grade will graduate from high school ready for college. ACT Aspire®, a longitudinal assessment system launched in 2014 and designed to measure and track students’ academic progress and to provide diagnostic information such as on/off-track indicators, addresses this issue. It assesses students’ mastery of mathematics, ELA,1 and science in grades 3 through 10, allowing for even earlier monitoring of students’ academic strengths and weaknesses.
ACT has also developed a suite of cognitive assessments that extend into the workplace. Informed by the findings of the US Department of Labor Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) report (1991), the ACT WorkKeys® assessments were developed to assess the following skills: locating information, reading for information, applied mathematics, workplace observation, teamwork, applied technology, writing, listening, and business writing. ACT also offers the ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™ (ACT NCRC®), a portable credential that demonstrates achievement and employability skills based on performance on three ACT WorkKeys assessments: Applied Mathematics, Locating Information, and Reading for Information. The focus of ACT WorkKeys is to measure real-world skills that employers believe are critical to job success. For example, the ACT WorkKeys Applied Mathematics test measures the skills people use when they apply mathematical reasoning, critical thinking, and problem-solving techniques to work-related problems. The test questions require examinees to set up and solve the types of problems and make the types of calculations they actually would perform in the workplace. The ACT WorkKeys Reading for Information test measures the skills people use when they read and use written texts to do a job.The written texts include memos, letters, directions, signs, notices, bulletins, policies, and regulations. Figure 2 shows some ACT assessments and resources that support education and work readiness across the K–Career continuum.
Cross-Cutting Capabilities
Research and the results from workforce surveys highlight the importance and demand for a broader range of cognitive skills that students and adults need to develop to be more adequately prepared for education and workplace success (Casner-Lotto & Barrington, 2006). Cross-cutting capabilities includes skills like the ability to think critically, work with others to solve problems, use effective study strategies, and use technology to research, transform, and share information. Many of ACT’s core academic assessments already described (e.g., ACT WorkKeys) capture some of the higher-order skills included in this broad domain (e.g., critical thinking); however, given the importance of these constructs, isolating these skills as a unique domain apart from core academic skills can ensure that they get the attention they deserve.
Behavioral Skills
To assess behavioral skills important for success in school, ACT developed ACT Engage® (originally named the Student Readiness Inventory), a measure of a student’s level of motivation, social engagement, and self-regulation. Research has shown that these behaviors predict academic achievement above and beyond academic measures such as high school grade point average (HSGPA) and test scores (e.g., Robbins et al., 2004). Three versions of this behavioral assessment were developed to be appropriate for specific educational levels: middle school, high school, and college. All three allow for the identification of at-risk students who may benefit from interventions to help them along their education journeys.
In a similar vein, ACT developed the ACT WorkKeys Talent assessment to measure behaviors and attitudes related to important workplace outcomes. The 165-item assessment consists of twelve scales: carefulness, cooperation, creativity, discipline, goodwill, influence, optimism, order, savvy, sociability, stability, and striving. Respondents are asked to rate how well statements such as “I am punctual” and “I like to take the initiative” describe them, using a six-point scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.” Research on the validity of the ACT WorkKeys Talent assessment showed that several of the scales were related to overall job performance, in particular carefulness, cooperation, discipline, and savvy (ACT, 2009). Additionally, when more specific dimensions of job performance were examined—such as organizational citizenship behavior, counterproductive work behavior, and safety—ACT WorkKeys Talent scales showed additional value as predictors of workplace success.
Education and Career Navigation Skills
The ACT assessment portfolio also includes measures of education and career navigation skills needed for success in education and work. The first edition of the ACT Interest Inventory (ACT, 2009) was developed in the early 1970s to supplement the feedback ACT provides to students about their academic strengths and weaknesses. Results from the ACT Interest Inventory are designed to help individuals more effectively navigate the career-exploration and decision-making process by providing them with information about occupations and college majors that align with their personal characteristics. The ACT Interest Inventory is designed to address developmentally relevant needs as individuals progress in their education careers. In earlier grades, the information gleaned from the inventory provides an opportunity for students to explore and learn about different careers, whereas by the end of high school, the information can help students home in on a specific career path and—if they hope to enroll in a postsecondary institution—to select a major. In addition,examining student’s achievement, expressed interest and measured interest has allowed ACT to develop multidimensional models of readiness for particular career pathways (e.g., STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) that take into account multiple factors (Radunzel, Mattern, & Westrick, in press). The ACT Interest Inventory continues to provide value into adulthood as individuals change careers and take on new roles.
Also part of the ACT portfolio for many years, Discover®,2 a computerized career guidance program (Taber & Luzzo, 1999), provided students with the opportunity to learn about their career interests, abilities, and work values and to explore occupations, majors, and schools, allowing self-discovery that included exploration, via a Career Map, of how their personal characteristics relate to careers. Research on the effectiveness of Discover found that its use was associated with increases in career decidedness, career decision-making self-efficacy, and perceived control over the career decision-making process among college students (Eveland, Coyne, & Blakney, 1998; Maples & Luzzo, 2005).
Currently, a new online college- and career-planning platform, ACT Profile, is under development. The beta version of ACT Profile provides high school students with personalized data and valuable information related to education and career options. ACT Profile includes measures of interests, values, and self-rated abilities, which provides individuals with an opportunity for self-discovery and for identifying personally relevant options. Based on an individual’s responses, occupations that fit the individual’s interests, values, and abilities are presented visually on the Career Map. A similar tool, the Majors Map, focuses on education planning to help students identify and explore college majors that fit their interests. Individuals can also use the extensive information in ACT Profile to find more information about particular majors and occupations, such as training requirements, salary outlook, and related fields.
As a measure of navigation skills that can assist human resources and workforce development practices, ACT offers the ACT WorkKeys Fit assessment, which measures the degree to which an individual’s interests and values fit with particular occupations. This 100-item tool assesses six broad categories of work-related interests (i.e., realistic, artistic, investigative, social, enterprising, and conventional) and a range of work-related values (e.g., autonomy, physical activity, influencing others, and precision). Information about both interests and values is combined into a single Fit Index. Research examining the validity of the Fit Index for predicting important workplace outcomes has found that it is positively related to job satisfaction and commitment (ACT, 2007; Swaney, Allen, Casillas, Hanson, & Robbins, 2012).
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ACT Aspire includes five separate assessments in grades 3–10 (mathematics, science, reading, English, and writing) and replaces ACT Explore and ACT Plan.
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ACT Discover was retired in 2012.