ACT Testing Specifics
The acronym ACT stands for American College Testing and is used to assess college readiness in high school students. The ACT test is a standardized test, which was created to be a competitor of the SAT test for college entrance criteria. The ACT Testing consists of 4 sections and an optional writing sample.
English is the first section of the ACT Testing, and a test taker is given 45 minutes to complete this section. This ACT Testing section contains 75 questions and measures a student’s mastery of such concepts as:
The ACT Testing 60 question math section measures a student’s skills in:
Test takers have 60 minutes to complete this 60 question section of the ACT Testing, and test taker are permitted to use calculators. Test takers need to know basic mathematical formulas for this test section, and all problems can be solved without the use of a calculator.
The ACT Testing 40 question reading section is 35 minutes in length. The sections include passages from such subjects as:
This portion of the ACT Testing focuses on the test takers ability to determine main ideas, understand cause and effect, determine event sequences, and make comparisons among others.
The ACT Testing science reasoning portion of the assessment consists of 40 questions, and students are given 35 minutes for this section. Each of the 7 science related passages are followed by 5 to 7 questions. This section of the ACT Testing is based on a student’s knowledge in Earth science, physical science, and biology. Questions are given in one of three formats:
Data representations like graphs or charts
The final ACT Testing section is the optional essays section, and students are given 30 minutes for this last portion. Test takers are given a prompted writing topic for this ACT Testing section. The topics are based on socially relevant issues pertaining to high school students. ACT Testing participants are asked to present their opinion on this issue.
ACT Testing is administered on a Saturday 4 to 6 times a year in September, October, December, February, April, and June. ACT testing is available outside the United States but on a less widely available basis. Students with disabilities can request special accommodations or up to 50 percent additional testing time. Depending on whether you take the standard ACT Testing or the extended ACT Testing with the option essay, the price ranges from about $35 to $50. The highest score a test taker can receive, in any section, is a 36 and the highest essay score is a 12.
High schools use ACT Testing scores to determine the success of teacher instruction, identify students who need extra help in certain subject areas, and to improve or change the current curriculum. Colleges use ACT Testing scores to determine course placement, make admission decisions, and to determine scholarship and loan eligibility. This year a computerized version of the ACT Testing will be available, in addition to the hard copy format.