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The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25.

ACT sat down (virtually) with the team at Trevor to discover how to best support LGBTQ youth, during Pride and beyond. Our questions and their answers appear below. Happy Pride!

We know students have and will continue to face the trauma of COVID-19 and ongoing social and civil rights challenges. How do these compounding traumas affect the LGBTQ+ community in particular?

So many LGBTQ young people experience things like familial rejection, bullying, and other factors that greatly affect their mental health. Even prior to the COVID pandemic, LGBTQ youth were at significantly increased risk for depression, anxiety, and suicide attempts, largely due to increased experiences of victimization.

The recent events of COVID-19, police violence against Black Americans, and the introduction of legislation in many States infringing on the rights of trans young people have a significant detrimental effect on many LGBTQ young people. Particularly regarding the pandemic, it’s clear that the widespread anxiety, physical distancing, and economic strain experienced in 2020 may have exacerbated existing difficulties and created new, unique problems for many LGBTQ youth. For example, our research shows that more than 80% of LGBTQ youth stated that COVID-19 made their living situation more stressful — and only 1 in 3 LGBTQ youth found their home to be LGBTQ-affirming. Ninety-four percent of LGBTQ youth said that recent politics negatively impacted their mental health.

The state of the world has presented numerous challenges and difficulties for everyone, but LGBTQ youth are particularly vulnerable.

What do LGBTQ+ youth need from allies, families, supporters, and each other?

We know that affirming spaces and support systems work to reduce the risk of suicide attempts and save young LGBTQ lives, letting them live freely and happily as their most authentic selves. Affirming spaces can be found everywhere – at school, in sports or other after school activities, in local communities, and online. In fact, “Finding Community Online,” “Online LGBTQ Chat Groups,” and “Watching LGBTQ People on YouTube and TikTok” were frequently cited as ways LGBTQ youth find joy and strength in The Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health.

At The Trevor Project, we constantly hear from transgender youth in crisis who want nothing more than to be recognized for who they are — and we know that respecting and affirming a young person’s identity is essential to their mental health and well-being. Among transgender and nonbinary youth, respecting their pronouns and allowing them to change their name is consistently associated with lower rates of attempting suicide.

Here are a few other LGBTQ-inclusive practices that allies, families, and supporters should keep in mind:

1. Refrain from using language that assumes gender is binary or that all people are straight and cisgender.
2. Someone’s appearance is not indicative of how they identify their gender. There are an infinite number of amazing ways to be a person of any gender.
3. Ask for someone’s name, pronouns, and how they identify — never assume.
4. Share your own pronouns at the beginning of a meeting, in your email signature, or on your social media profile.
5. Be aware of the expectations you project onto others based on their gender, and strive to support others and validate their experiences.
   
   
   

What’s the best way educators can support and celebrate students who identify as LGBTQ+, beyond Pride month?

Establish yourself as a confidant and supportive ally that is always there to listen to them without judgment. Be affirming and have empathy. The journey of embracing one’s LGBTQ identity is an intensely personal process and it can bring up a lot of different emotions. Part of being a good ally is continuing your education and increasing your own understanding of LGBTQ issues to take the burden off of LGBTQ youth to always be the ones to educate or correct.

Help foster spaces where everyone can express themselves, speak out against harassment when you see it, and be a source of education for those who need it.

Finally, LGBTQ youth who report having at least one accepting adult are 40% less likely to attempt suicide. Be that one person and encourage other youth-facing adults around you to do the same.

What are your top three resources that all allies should share?

The Trevor Project has published a wealth of resources for LGBTQ youth and the people in their lives that can be found on our website. Here are a few that are informative and actionable:

• A Guide to Being an Ally to Transgender and Nonbinary Youth — covering the basics of gender, how to show respect, and what to do if you’ve made a mistake.
• A Coming Out Handbook, to help young people explore what coming out safely can mean for them. This is intended for youth, but it can also provide parents and allies with insights on the coming out process and how difficult it can be for some youth.
• Our 2021 National Survey for LGBTQ Youth is the most comprehensive and diverse research report of its kind. It spotlights the unique challenges that LGBTQ youth of all backgrounds face, and it’s an important body of data to spread awareness, increase activism, and effect change.

ACT fights for fairness in education and believes in providing equity, access, and opportunity for all students. We’re proud to celebrate Pride Month alongside members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Recommended Reading:

• What’s SEL got to do with it? Supporting LGBTQ+ Students with SEL Curriculum

By Dr. Alex Casillas, ACT Principal Research Psychologist; Dr. Bonnie Hain, Senior Director, ACT Professional Services 

“When someone with the authority of a teacher describes the world and you are not in it, there is a moment of psychic disequilibrium, as if you looked into a mirror and saw nothing.”
--Adrienne Rich

Being a teen is hard. Teenagers are actively exploring their identity while going through a variety of physical, psychological, and social changes at the same time. Being a teen who identifies as LGBTQ+ is even harder. These teens’ needs are often overlooked—or worse yet, they may suffer more frequent micro-aggressions or bullying. So, what about being a teen who is LGBTQ+ during a global pandemic? Yes, you guessed that right: it’s likely even harder yet!

In fact, according to both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the CDC, students age 12–17 have experienced increased stress, anxiety, and depression because of the isolation brought on by the social distancing measures implemented to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Our own research tells the same story. For LGBTQ+ students, anxiety and stress may have been heightened due to losing regular access to affirming student organizations and supportive peers, teachers, and school staff during the pandemic.

So, as allies joining the LGBTQ+ community in celebrating Pride Month, we also encourage all schools to put measures in place so that every student (whether child, tween, or teen) feels safe, supported, and is able to explore and take pride in their identity.


One measure every school can put in place is a quality curriculum for social and emotional learning, beginning with our youngest students and continuing throughout a student’s educational journey. Social and emotional learning (SEL) can be an anchor during this time of intense change and instability. It underscores how each individual student has value, strengths, challenges, choices, and a vital role to play in building a positive community, whether at school, work, or at home.

According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), SEL is the “process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.”

SEL helps people empathize with others and celebrate the differences that make us unique. This kind of support is critical for members of marginalized groups, like students who identify as LGBTQ+.

How might we incorporate SEL curriculum into schools?

It’s most effective (for school climate, mental health, and academic performance) to embrace a whole-school focus on SEL that attempts to reach every student in every classroom. SEL tools, curricula, and assessments can be implemented as a proactive strategy in which all students engage in activities designed to build skills such as empathy, collaboration, stress management, persistence, curiosity, and many others.

For example, starting the day with brief, intentional lessons provided in an advisory or homeroom class can help students suffering from anxiety or other emotional barriers set up for a successful day of academic learning. With an effective screener assessment, SEL can also be integrated into the multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) already in use in most districts in the United States. MTSS ensures students who need more intensive supports can receive appropriate intervention and support strategies.

MTSS and Trauma-Informed Practices

Delivering SEL programming through an MTSS approach also makes it easier to incorporate the three essential components of trauma-informed practices:

• Safety—We know that a feeling of safety at school is important for all students, but it is particularly important for LGBTQ+ students who may not feel safe in other settings that are less accepting.
• Relationships—One way to build a safe environment in school and help students who have experienced trauma is through relationships. Positive teacher-student relationships are associated with increased student engagement, attendance, and achievement. For a student with trauma, strong relationships can help them feel secure, instead of having to be “on alert,” freeing up space for them to focus on learning.
• Coping skills—Helping students develop coping skills for managing thoughts and emotions lays the groundwork for developing healthy behaviors in response to stress, nurturing supportive relationships, and cultivating the skills necessary to fulfill their potential and achieve personal and professional goals.

These are essential for those students (and adults) who have experienced trauma, but particularly for minoritized groups.

SEL can—and should—be part of every school’s toolbox for building a safe, equitable, and engaging learning environment as we emerge from the pandemic. Creating affirming policies, programs, and practices will not only help LGBTQ+ students and their peers to learn and thrive, it can help to address various forms of inequity and empower young people and adults to co-create thriving schools where they are empowered to explore their identities and contribute to safe, healthy, and just communities.

ACT fights for fairness in education and believes in providing equity, access, and opportunity for all students. We’re proud to celebrate Pride Month alongside members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Dive Deeper

Check out these resources for supporting LGBTQ+ youth:

• 5 Resources to Help LGBTQ Youth
• LGBTQ Youth of Color-GLSEN
• The Trevor Project

Congratulations to the students who tested this weekend as part of ACT’s June national test date! Here’s what you can plan for next, now that testing is a wrap.

According to our registration data, approximately 215,000 students planned to sit for the test this past weekend. Of those students, nearly 10% registered to take the test with a fee waiver. This is our most up-to-date estimate of students tested. We report out official numbers of ACT test-takers annually by graduating class.

To-date, we have administered nearly 2.3 million tests since June 2020, as part of national test events and through state and district testing.

ISSUES & SOLUTIONS

By Eric Fox, Associate Principal, Jenks High School (Oklahoma)

You’ve heard the adage, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” It is often used to justify the struggles of encouraging follow through that can be beneficial to certain parties. In terms of the ACT, here is a dilemma: How can I as a school leader encourage students to use a fee waiver for the ACT in a way that communicates its value?

Most of us realize that fee waivers are available to our students, but we may not be aware of all the benefits that can be leveraged, including access to free online test prep materials, and perhaps more importantly, additional score reports sent to colleges and universities. Many students limit sending score reports because of costs associated with exploring multiple higher education options, particularly those who rely upon financial aid packages that play an important role in their final decision.

A recent study has demonstrated the positive outcome of those who can benefit from fee waivers.

“ACT’s fee waiver program appears to be reaching its targeted students. Those high school students who have been traditionally underrepresented in higher education—e.g., students from low-income households and those who would be first-generation college students—were more likely than their peers to use a fee waiver to register for the test.”

This is encouraging news as we look to more effectively prepare our students for those first steps off the commencement stage. Independent research has also found expanding access to the ACT increases students’ access to and opportunities within higher education.

Whether our students are using the scores for college entrance or scholarship searches, or they are using the career-related information from the reports, many schools, districts, and states are seeing benefits in helping students leave high school as what some have called “college and career ready.” I prefer the term “life ready” as we know there are many skills that are requisite for success in adulthood that are not specifically measured in a score report but are demonstrated by showing up at the right time with the right tools needed to take the assessment.

A concern in this regard is demonstrated in the larger number of students who are provided with fee waivers who do not show up on their assigned test day. In In Their Own Words, students identified various reasons from not having all their materials, not having transportation to a testing center, something unexpected interfering on test day, or even not feeling adequately prepared and/or having test anxiety. What can we do to assist with those students and to also encourage more students to take that drink when led to water? Former Freedom Writer and current educational speaker and expert, Manny Scott, pointed out that although we can’t make the horse drink, “we can make him thirsty.” As administrators and educators, how do we make our students thirsty for the fee waiver and the opportunity to test?

First, let’s examine the expectations we have for our students. Are there varying sets of expectations for students in AP/IB classes, English learners, students on IEPs or 504s or students in “on-level” courses? We may not explicitly state it in our mission statements on our walls, but do separate expectations creep into our conversations in the guidance offices, administrators’ offices or teachers’ lounges? This mindset can result in the Golem Effect, a self-fulfilling prophecy when educators hold low expectations toward students where those low expectations lead to decreased performance levels. If we communicate that some of our students are “college material” while others are relegated to “the workforce” as if those are reflective of academic or intellectual capacity or talent levels, we will see students who believe taking academic assessments aren’t worth their investment of time or money or won’t be efficacious.

First, a recap. What is the fee waiver program?

If a student is having trouble paying for the ACT test, the ACT Fee Waiver Program can help. The program covers the registration fee for up to four ACT tests (on national test days), with or without the optional writing test.

It also provides a year of free access to The Official ACT® Self-Paced Course, powered by Kaplan® (featuring more than 2,000 real ACT practice questions and five full-length official practice tests), and unlimited additional score reports, so students can send their scores to colleges and institutions for free.

Eligible students do not have to pay anything to take the ACT! College and career success are within reach for all.

Who is eligible? How do they get it? How do they use it?

Students are eligible for the program if they meet these three requirements:

1. Are currently enrolled in high school in the 11th or 12th grade.
2. Are testing in the United States, US territories, or Puerto Rico.
3. Meet one or more of the indicators of economic need. See here for details.

A student’s best resource for the fee waiver program is their school counselor. Counselors can determine their eligibility and provide students with the fee waiver codes that they will use to register for the ACT.

Now to the expert commentary

ACT asked school counselors for their reactions to new ACT policy and survey research on the fee waiver program. The research series delves into the use and history of the program, and uncovers several barriers students told us can make it difficult to show up on test day.

Below, Lisa C. Davies, Ed.D., assistant professor and lead faculty for the School Counseling Program in the College of Education at Lipscomb University (Nashville, Tenn.), and Kim Jackson-Allen, Ed.D., professional school counselor, Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (Savannah, Ga.), share their practitioner-perspectives about the benefits and barriers to the program, while offering recommendations for how fellow counselors and fee waiver advocates (including ACT itself) can help more students.

How do your students benefit from the fee waiver program? Which aspects are most important to their success?

“Students greatly benefit from the fee waiver program. Often daily necessities or food insecurities are of first concern; therefore, providing a fee waiver allows the student to know they can participate in activities related to the college going process—not taking away from daily living.”– Davies

“The students at my high school benefit greatly from the ACT fee waiver program. As a professional school counselor who is employed in an underserved geographic location for students, it is important that the students I serve receive the essential benefits from the fee waiver program. In estimation, I would say close to 85 percent of my students are eligible for free and reduced lunch. That being said, it is extremely difficult for students as they access and navigate their way through the college access program to be encumbered with another barrier that limits their access even further. Now, more than ever, it is essential that our students acquire self-awareness to reap the benefits from the fee waiver program. One of the many aspects that is most important to their success is knowing that they can gain access to the post-secondary options that may be limited based on perceived stereotypes of socio-economic status. The ACT program allows the students to push forward in their academic milieu despite their zip code. With ACT offering such benefits to those who qualify, it essentially continues to level the playing field for all students.” – Jackson-Allen

What are some of the barriers students face when it comes to using a fee waiver?

“Barriers to showing up on the test day may vary according to the location and/or personal responsibilities of students. For many, working on a Saturday morning takes precedence over taking the test. For others, a start time of 8:00 am is difficult because of travel time when coming from a rural area.” – Davies

“Research can tell us several things about an infinite number of current and sometimes reoccurring trends. On a day-to-day basis, data collected helps me to inform processes and decisions that I will make regarding advising my students in an impactful way led with fidelity. This recalls the barriers that my students face regarding ACT test day. While not necessarily demonstrated or grounded in ACT research, I have found that many of the barriers that our students face (though they may be intrinsic), are the missed opportunities to follow instructions thoroughly. Often time, this can bring about invalidated test scores, not having any appropriate equipment such as a calculator to help avoid challenging questions on the test, and simple things that are required for admission to the testing center, such as a picture ID. When advising students regarding test preparation, one of my major emphases is to always strongly suggest that they read the directions in their entirety.

Other barriers that students sometimes face are transportation, particularly in underserved areas. This is one of the reasons why my school became a test center. In addition to the students eliminating that barrier to transportation, they were also able to test in an environment that they were accustomed to and felt comfortable in.

There are also other intrinsic barriers that limit the success of students regarding the fee waiver program. For example, things like scheduling conflicts, simply forgetting the test, i.e. not committing the test date to their calendar and oversleeping. The way in which these barriers can be overcome is to continue to appropriately advise students regarding optimal ways to earn a test score, but also calling attention to those intrinsic factors to help improve students' executive functioning skills, which includes but is not limited to critical thinking skills, time management, and organization. These such skills are essential for facilitating behaviors required to plan and achieve goals.” – Jackson-Allen

How do we overcome these barriers and increase access? What is your advice to other counselors and to ACT?

“It is necessary to continue to offer the ACT during the school day. Students have transportation, food availability, and access to materials. When school counselors have opportunities to explain scores and academic areas that need to have further remediation, students may connect the importance of retaking the ACT toward the college going experience. When students understand how their scores may propel them during their first year of college, the ACT may have more meaning as to its importance.

Encouraging students to take advantage of the fee waiver program includes early education to students and parents. When ACT tutoring is taking place with students, communication about the fee waiver is essential. I believe communication is the key to students learning about the fee waiver program. Collaborating with teachers to help spread the word or including information through social media about fee waivers during all postsecondary conversations with students is paramount.” – Davies

“There are a few different methods of advice for trying to increase college access and post-secondary opportunities for students as it relates to a fee waiver program. While the words may seem simple, they are grand in the fact that they carry a lot of weight. The word would be exposure, exposure, and more exposure. It is my belief that the more we expose our students to such opportunities, the more our students will not view these opportunities as just a way to leverage their postsecondary options, but at the same time expand their access to such options. ACT has done a commendable job of increasing their fee waiver program and access. Ongoing evaluative methods are a necessity to inform data regarding this effort. At my school, I would strongly recommend the continued solicitation for feedback from practitioners such as professional school counselors in the field. Another recommendation could be soliciting this same feedback from students regarding their personal experiences with the fee waiver program. As a whole, and lastly, the promotion of robust social media campaigns to attract and retain the attention of students.” – Jackson-Allen

What is the program’s reach?

Between the 2014-15 and 2018-19 school years, more than 2.3 million eligible students used fee waivers to register for more than 3.1 million ACT tests, for a total of $161.4 million in waived registration fees.

In terms of free resources, since launching the self-paced course powered by Kaplan in July 2020, we’ve equipped more than 110,000 students who register with a fee waiver with the resources and tools to help them reach their college and career goals.

What is the future of the program?

COVID-19 (and the educational equity gaps it has exposed and exacerbated) has only strengthened our commitment to the fee waiver program. Over the next few years, ACT will explore new strategies to increase awareness of the fee waiver program, increase timely supports for students participating in the program, and encourage use of the free test prep materials.

In addition, we continue to conduct research and suggest research-based policies and solutions to make it easier for students participating in the fee waiver program to take the test.

Take a deeper dive

Check out our fee waiver research series and corresponding blog posts: