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IOWA CITY, Iowa—Pak Chung Wong, Ph.D., chief scientist and project manager at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), is joining ACT as principal advisor on data science for ACTNext, the research and development center dedicated to developing ground-breaking learning and assessment systems.

In this newly created role, Wong will report to Alina von Davier, a globally recognized researcher in computational psychometrics and vice president of ACTNext.

Wong is an expert on extreme scale data analytics, visual analytics, visualization, privacy, security, and social computing. His research ranges from the impact of climate change on the electrical grid to the use of DNA to store data.

“During his two decades at PNNL, Dr. Wong made significant contributions to its mission of explaining the Earth and our universe,” said von Davier. “We are extremely excited to have a scientist with his skills advancing ACT’s research in education and workplace success.”

While at the PNNL, Wong and his colleagues implanted the lyrics from “It’s a Small World After All” into the genome of a bacterium. While seemingly whimsical, the work has practical applications. DNA is an extremely efficient storage medium, and has the potential to last thousands, and even millions, of years.

Wong earned his PhD in computer science from the University of New Hampshire. He has published more than 70 peer-reviewed articles and has received 10 U.S. patents.

In addition to his work at the PNNL, Wong is associate editor-in-chief of computer graphics and applications at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and an associate editor at the Information Visualization Journal.

About ACT

IOWA CITY, IOWA—ACT, Inc., a national leader in college and career readiness assessment, announced today it intends to invest in ProExam, a not-for-profit organization focused on noncognitive assessment and professional credentialing, with a merger between the two organizations expected in 2018.

“Education and workplace success require a holistic set of skills, including cognitive and noncognitive skills,” said ACT Chief Executive Officer Marten Roorda. “This investment will allow ACT to tap into ProExam’s expertise in noncognitive assessment, credentialing and consulting. Our goal is to connect noncognitive assessment, which ProExam understands as well as anyone in the world, to all ACT programs, since such skills are essential to people’s future success. We look forward to adding our own value as we work to expand and enhance ProExam’s offerings.”

Cognitive skills relate to mental activities, such as thinking, reasoning, understanding and remembering, while noncognitive skills involve interpersonal and intrapersonal competencies such as tenacity, responsibility, teamwork and leadership.

“We are thrilled ACT is investing in our organization so that together we can help people develop the full range of skills that can help them enhance their lives,” said ProExam Chief Executive Officer Robert Block. “We are eager to begin working with ACT.”

ProExam will remain a separate entity for at least a year, after which a merger between the two not-for-profit organizations is anticipated. Collaborative work between ACT and ProExam will begin as soon as the investment is finalized.

ProExam is known for its Tessera™ next-generation K-12 assessment system, which measures six noncognitive skill and character strength sets. In addition, the organization has developed a comprehensive suite of digital tools for the credentialing market, including ProExam Vault, a secure web-based platform for issuing, managing and sharing digital credentials and micro-credentials as open badges. ProExam has been a market leader working with sponsors of global credentialing programs for more than 50 years.

ProExam’s Center for Innovative Assessments, led by Vice President and Chief Scientist Richard D. Roberts, conducts both basic and applied research. The Center identifies business- and education-relevant noncognitive skills and develops techniques and procedures for measuring and enhancing these abilities.

Prior to the anticipated merger, ProExam will be an ACT-affiliated company. After the investment takes place, ACT will assume governance of ProExam and will work closely to leverage the expertise, talent and passion of the ProExam team.

ProExam’s offices are and will remain located in New York City.

About ACT

High school students are our next generation of voters. In the coming years, they are going to help shape public policy, but their views are often overlooked because most of them are currently not eligible to vote. To address this lack of information, in December ACT surveyed a sample of students who took the ACT® test, asking them about their engagement with and concerns after the 2016 presidential election.

A new ACT issue brief, The Next Generation of Voters: A Sample of Student Attitudes after the 2016 Presidential Election, summarizes the findings.

We found that most students were engaged with the election: 67 percent reported following the news coverage very or fairly closely. However, their most popular news source was social media (72 percent), suggesting that work to help students identify “fake news" is critically important.

After the election, the majority of students reported feeling more concerned about a number of topics including race relations (72 percent) and college affordability (62 percent); while half reported feeling more concerned about getting a job. Less than 13 percent of students reported feeling less concerned about any of the topics after the election. Further, only about half (49 percent) of the students reported that discussions in their classroom about the election were always or almost always respectful.

The high levels of concern, particularly related to equity issues, indicates that educators and parents need to find a way to talk with their students about current issues and teach students how to engage in these discussions in a productive manner that does not interfere with student learning. The survey also suggests that civics and media education are needed to help students gather the information that is shaping their opinions.

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IOWA CITY, Iowa—Starting in 2018, ACT will begin offering students the opportunity to take the ACT® test in the summer. The first ACT summer test date will take place in July 2018, increasing the number of national ACT test dates from six to seven.

“Students, educators and colleges have told us they would like to see an extra test date prior to early admission and application deadlines, and we have listened,” said ACT Chief Commercial Officer Suzana Delanghe. “This additional test date will allow students to focus on their coursework while they are in school and prepare for the ACT test during the summer.”

While the majority of current ACT test centers are located in high schools, most July ACT test centers will likely be located on two- and four year college and university campuses, as many high schools across the country are closed or operate with very limited staff in the summer months.

Registration for the new July test date will open in early 2018. More information on test center locations will be available at that time.

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