ACT Newsroom & Blog

By: Lisa King, director, American College Application Campaign 

This blog post is the final installment in a three-part series honoring 2023 American College Application Campaign School of Excellence awardees. Read part one of the series featuring Ocean View High School in Ocean View, California, here, and part two showcasing the inspiring story of Petoskey High School in Petoskey, Michigan, here.

Timberlake High School in Spirit Lake, Idaho, is committed to making college dreams a reality for every student. This year, all 111 seniors applied to college during the 2023 American College Application Campaign (ACAC) cycle, submitting a grand total of 368 applications. Through dedicated support and personalized guidance, school leaders empowered students to envision and achieve their postsecondary goals.

With a large number of first-generation seniors, many from low-income backgrounds, Timberlake school counselors personally encouraged each student to consider the possibilities of postsecondary education.

“I believe that students need to know that there is someone on their side who wants to help them,” said Sebastian Kelley, college and career advisor at Timberlake High School. “Everything related to college can be so confusing for our students. By us having these events, we are able to help relieve the stress and anxiety that comes with the college process.”  

To ensure every student had the opportunity to apply, the team focused on meeting with seniors during their government class to assist students in completing and submitting applications through Apply Idaho – a free one-stop-shop application process that allows students to apply to up to 10 in-state colleges through one common application.

Students who were absent were not forgotten – instead, they later met one-on-one with a college and career advisor. The counseling and advising team also encouraged staff and teachers to discuss postsecondary pathways.

When students asked him, "Why apply to college?" Kelley assured students it could only open doors to future opportunities.

“It is so important to take the risk and apply to college because we live in a world where you need some type of degree or certification,” he said. “You might get accepted into a school you had no idea that you wanted to apply to.”

Jenni Kimball, former ACAC state coordinator for Idaho, says that by providing students with the proper tools and the opportunity to achieve more, leaders at Timberlake High School created a path forward for students as they look beyond graduation.

“Timberlake's college application campaign ensured that every single senior now has the option to attend a two- or four-year college,” she said. “Having options is powerful and allows students to make the best decision for their future.” 

The achievements at Timberlake High School underscore the importance of empowering students to believe in themselves and their potential to pursue a postsecondary education.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Students’ access to technology has improved over time, although it continues to vary across family income categories and racial and ethnic groups, according to a new study released today by ACT, the mission-driven provider of assessments, research, and work-ready credentials designed to support education and workplace success. And a majority of students — 70% — are concerned about having enough money to purchase the technology needed for college.

“Although some gains in high school students’ technological device and internet access have occurred since ACT first investigated the digital divide in 2018, device and internet access of students with lower family incomes is lagging that of students with higher family incomes,” said Jeff Schiel, Ph.D, an ACT lead research scientist and author of the report. “There is also a concerning new data point: Nearly three quarters of students are worried they won’t be able to pay for the technology they need for college.”

The new report, How High School Students Use and Perceive Technology at Home and School, examines high school students’ access to and use of technology and how access and use vary among student groups. The study continues the research that ACT published six years ago, The Digital Divide and Educational Equity.

Nearly all (96%) high school students reported having access to a smartphone at home, and 87% had access to a laptop computer. But students from higher-income families were significantly more likely than those from lower-income families to report having home access to desktop computers, laptop computers, tablets, and smartphones. Gains across all income groups indicate that more students are now connected, but disparities in access to technology remain significant.

“A large number of students reported being at least moderately confident in using technological devices to find information for schoolwork. However, students from higher-income families expressed higher confidence and were more likely to trust the information they find online compared to their peers from lower-income families,” Dr. Schiel added. “Speaking of trust, in another recent study, we found that many students did not use AI tools because they did not trust the information provided by the tools. As AI and digital content become increasingly prevalent, ensuring that students can critically evaluate and trust the information they consume will be important for their academic and career success.”

Students’ family income category was also significantly related to home internet access. Seventy percent of students with low family incomes (less than $36,000 per year) reported having a monthly cellular data plan for home internet access, compared with 64% of students with moderate family incomes ($36,000 to $100,000 per year) and 58% of students with high family incomes (more than $100,000 per year). This indicates that lower-income students are more likely to rely solely on cellular data plans and lack access to more robust and stable internet options, such as broadband.

“As technology becomes increasingly integral to students’ learning, the persistence of the digital divide means disparities in access continue to prevent students from engaging in online learning and completing assignments,” ACT CEO Janet Godwin said. “This divide also could affect students’ ability to develop digital literacy skills, which are essential to preparing students for the challenges of consuming content in an AI-driven world. We are seeing gains in critical areas of technology access compared to our 2018 findings, but they are not enough to bridge this divide. We must prioritize ensuring equitable technology and quality internet access for all students to support their future success in a digital-first world.”

The report is based on a December 2023 survey of national ACT test registrants.

Key findings:

• Students from higher-income families were more likely to have home access to desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Ninety-two percent of students with high family incomes reported having laptops, compared to 88% of students from moderate-income families and 76% of those from low-income families.
• The percentage of students with low family incomes who had access to two, three, or four devices at home was 10 percentage points larger than in 2018 (82% vs. 72%, respectively). The percentage of students with moderate family incomes who had access to two, three, or four devices at home increased from 86% to 93%, a gain of 7 percentage points.
• Black and Hispanic students were more likely to access the internet via monthly cellular data plans (67% and 66%) than were Asian and white students (56% and 58%).
• Dial-up access was more common among Black and Hispanic students (5% and 4%) than Asian and white students (3% and 2%).

About ACT
ACT is transforming college and career readiness pathways so that everyone can discover and fulfill their potential. Grounded in more than 65 years of research, ACT’s learning resources, assessments, research, and work-ready credentials are trusted by students, job seekers, educators, schools, government agencies, and employers in the U.S. and around the world to help people achieve their education and career goals at every stage of life. Visit us at www.act.org.  

Contact: Allie Ciaramella;  allie.ciaramella@act.org

By: Dr. Jill McVey, research scientist; Dr. Nola Daley, research scientist; and Dr. Cristina Anguiano-Carrasco, lead research scientist; Mira Monroe, senior manager, Accommodations Eligibility; and Allyson Vignola, content accessibility lead Recent ACT research highlights the critical role that social and emotional skills play in academic success for all students, but particularly for those with disabilities. In recognition of Disability Pride Month, the research authors teamed up with ACT colleagues in Accessibility and Accommodations to discuss how they are working to support the academic success of students with disabilities through newfound data and the continued promise of a fair and equitable testing experience for all. Why did you choose to focus on students with disabilities for this study?

We know from research that social and emotional skills are important to thriving in school, work, and life. Our previous research showed that these types of skills – which help people function effectively in social situations and in academic and professional environments – are highly correlated to ACT test scores among all students. However, many studies on this topic do not differentiate between groups of students, including those who may have different needs.

Given the lack of information on how these skills relate to academic achievement among students with disabilities in particular, we wanted to explore this relationship.

Which specific skills were most strongly associated with higher ACT scores among students with disabilities?

In this study, all students had at least one type of neurodevelopmental disability, such as a learning disability, ADHD, or autism. Similar to the case for students without disabilities, ACT scores among students with disabilities were highly correlated with all five core skills we measured – getting along with others, maintaining composure, social connection, sustaining effort, and keeping an open mind. However, there were a few differences in the strength of the relationships.

Getting along with others and keeping an open mind had the strongest relationships with ACT test scores for students with disabilities. Additionally, maintaining composure and social connection, along with getting along with others, had stronger relationships with ACT test scores among students with disabilities than among students without disabilities. The correlation between keeping an open mind and ACT test scores was identical among groups, while sustaining effort had a lower correlation to ACT test scores among students with disabilities versus those without. What lingering questions are there about the relationship between these skills and the academic success of students with disabilities?

The field still needs more research about how these skills may uniquely affect students with disabilities, especially considering that students’ needs may be different depending on their disabilities. We know that interventions designed to improve these skills can, in general, help students academically, but better understanding the extent to which they help students with special needs has important implications for ensuring that interventions benefit all students.

Additionally, some research has found that students with disabilities may be disproportionally affected by issues such as bullying, suggesting it’s important to understand how the development of these skills can help support these students in areas other than academics, as well.

How can schools and educators support the success of students with disabilities and their academic outcomes through these skills?

There are many ways to do so. First, it is important that educators are building their own skills and using them to develop student-teacher relationships, model appropriate behavior, and listen to students’ needs. Additionally, learning how to approach social and emotional instruction using a neurodiversity-affirming approach can help students build on their strengths.

Embedding this instruction throughout the school day can help all students build these skills, which can be taught through a formal curriculum or woven into existing content. For example, as part of a literacy lesson, educators could read a story and ask students to think about how the characters felt and handled situations, and to think about ways they could respond to similar situations in their own lives.

Finally, educators can help by providing students with safe opportunities to practice these skills with peers. Providing structured class time for students to get to know one another and build relationships can be particularly important for students who feel more socially isolated. How have standardized testing practices evolved to better account for the unique challenges faced by students with disabilities?

Standardized testing practices have evolved to better accommodate students with disabilities, and ACT has been an industry leader at every step in that evolution.

ACT has provided test accommodations for decades, since before the Americans with Disabilities Act mandated that standardized testing companies do so in the 1990s. As the 2010s saw refinement to technological integration that benefited people with disabilities, ACT’s test development practices were refined to include guidelines for accommodations such as extended time, alternative formats, and assistive technology.

In 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act focused schools on accountability and including students with disabilities in standardized testing, which resulted in driving test providers to enhance accommodations offerings such as screen reader compatibility, text to speech, embedded video American Sign Language, and customizable test settings. In 2021, ACT aligned its accommodations eligibility policy with federal special education laws to remove process barriers, resulting in easier access to accommodations for students and school staff. Since then, we have incorporated Universal Design for Learning and Universal Design for Assessment principles in our development practices to ensure we’re designing assessments accessible to all students from the outset and minimizing the need for separate accommodations.

The introduction of online testing has also had a positive effect by allowing supports that previously required accommodation requests to be embedded in the test delivery system and available to all students, minimizing the delineation between students with disabilities and their non-disabled peers.

Continuous updates to laws and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines drive ACT’s policies and help ensure compliance with the latest educational and technological standards to support all students’ participation in standardized assessments. Our evolution of standardized test development and delivery practices reflects a growing recognition of the diverse learners we serve and a commitment to providing equitable educational opportunities through actionable research, innovation, and implementation of best practices.

 

By: Janet Godwin, CEO, ACT

In July, I had the privilege of attending ACT’s Enrollment Management Summit, a gathering of admissions and enrollment professionals focused on the pressing issues in higher education. It's one of my favorite events of the year, where I get to learn from some of the most innovative minds in the business.

This year's Summit was especially exciting for me, as it was the first opportunity I had to share the ambitious work ACT has done to offer students more choice and flexibility in demonstrating their readiness for life after high school. For more than six decades, ACT has evolved to meet the challenges students and educators face, and we are laser focused on providing the best tools and opportunities for success.

Continuing our legacy of innovation and guided by feedback from students, educators, and experts in K-12 and higher education, we are implementing two fundamental changes to the ACT test.

Focus on Flexibility

First, we have made the test more flexible for students by giving them the ability to choose whether to take the science section. English, reading, and math remain as the core sections of the ACT test that will result in a college-reportable score. Like the writing section, science will be offered as an additional section. This means students can choose to take the ACT, the ACT plus science, the ACT plus writing, or the ACT plus science and writing. With this flexibility, students can focus on their strengths and showcase their abilities in the best possible way.

The Composite score will be the average of the English, reading, and math scores. The Composite and section scores will continue to be reported on the same 1-36 scale, and stakeholders can continue to use them as powerful indicators of achievement and college readiness. Additionally, as in years past, students can still opt to take the test online or with paper and pencil.

A Shorter Test

We've also reduced the length of the test by up to one-third, depending on which version of the test students take. The new core test will last just two hours, compared to three hours for the current test. To achieve this, the test will include shorter passages on the reading and English sections and fewer questions in each section – 44 fewer questions in all – allowing students more time to answer each question thoughtfully. This change is designed to make the testing experience more manageable for students, enabling them to perform at their best without the fatigue that often accompanies longer exams.

Both of these exciting changes, along with other enhancements to modernize the test, will roll out starting with National online testing in spring 2025 and then for school-day testing in spring 2026.

These changes to the ACT test reflect our commitment to continually evolving to meet the needs of learners and underscore our legacy of innovation that has been at the core of ACT’s mission since 1959. ACT broke down barriers in 2006 when we introduced school-day testing, ensuring that all students have access to a college-reportable score that reflects their readiness for life after high school. In 2017, we led the industry in offering online testing. In 2020, we met the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic by opening pop-up testing centers with protocols to ensure the safety of test takers. In 2023, ACT introduced Encourage, our free college and career planning program that is used in more than 10,000 schools and provides nearly 1 million high school students every year with resources to explore pathways to success after graduation.

As ACT continues to innovate and adapt, our dedication to providing accessible, reliable, and forward-thinking readiness solutions remains steadfast, ensuring every learner has the opportunity to succeed.

I’m thrilled about the future and the opportunities that lie ahead for us and those we serve. Our unwavering commitment to meeting the evolving needs of students and educators drives us forward. These enhancements are just the beginning, and we are eager to continue revolutionizing how we prepare learners for future challenges and opportunities. For more than 65 years, ACT has embraced innovation, and we are focused forward on delivering our vision to transform college and career readiness pathways so that everyone can discover and fulfill their potential.