ACT to offer computer-based testing and individual section retesting

ACT recently published a press release announcing the introduction of computer-based testing and individual section retesting.  A link to the original press release is here, and a digest of the changes follows. 

ACT’s press release offers the following information:

·      Starting in September 2020, ACT will allow students who have already taken the ACT to retake individual sections without sitting for the entire exam.  

·      These individual section retakes will be offered only online (through school testing centers) and only to students who have previously taken then complete test. 

·      Cost is TBD.

·      ACT will provide students who sit for these individual sections with a new superscore: a composite calculated using the highest four test sections taken from multiple test dates.  

·      Also starting in September 2020, students will be able to choose whether they want to take the complete ACT online or via paper and pencil.  The online test will return scores in two days, rather than two weeks.  

·      The content and structure of the online test will be identical to those of the pencil-and-paper test.

While these changes definitely sound like good news for students, they also raise many questions that don’t have immediate answers.  Chief among them is whether an ACT-computed superscore will change colleges’ test-reporting policies.  As an example, University of South Carolina currently only superscores the SAT.  According to its website, USC will only “consider the highest composite score from a single ACT test date.” (https://tinyurl.com/y3q5fay9, accessed 10/9/19).  USC and other colleges have not yet assessed these new ACT single-section retests and schools are not obligated to accept the new superstores.  If a school’s score reporting policy changes, students will then need to understand which application cycles the changes impact.

  Additionally, the probability of a smooth September 2020 online debut seems small.  ACT has been in the process of rolling out online testing for over five years, and testers on the vanguard of this change have faced multiple problems.  Notably, when ACT moved all international testers to computer-based testing in 2018, many tests were cancelled in the week or two prior to the test date because test centers were inadequately equipped to handle the test’s technological and logistical challenges.  The issue of test-center requirements also raises an important issue of access: will every student have the same access to the single-section retakes?  If no, which students will receive priority?

ACT’s new testing options will also impact the landscape of ACT test prep.  After taking the full test once, a student could conceivably prep for each section individually and then sit for only that single section.  This could significantly help the student who struggles to stay focused for the duration of the full test or the student who hits his/her goal scores in three of the four test sections and only needs/wants to retest on that weakest section.  In contrast, the opportunity to continually retest section by section seems to exacerbate the already protracted testing process.  Clearly ACT’s new options promote increased testing, but this might not always benefit the test takers.

With the start date of September 2020, juniors and families of juniors might be tempted to plan for section retests just before fall early-decision/early-action deadlines.  Given all of the current unknowns, this strategy seems risky.  For now, students should stick to their original testing plans and assume that the new single-section testing option will not impact their applications.  While students may be able to capitalize on a section retest opportunity, they should not rely on this option.