1. Ginger Green ACT Southeast Region
Preparing for The ACT
Ginger Green ACT Southeast Region

2. ACT Review Curriculum-based test Measures academic achievement English
Math
Reading
Science
Writing (optional)

3. How is the ACT used? College Admissions Talent Identification
Academic Advising
Freshman Course Placement
Awarding Course Credit
Scholarships

4. Benefits for Students Accepted by all 4-year colleges in the U.S.
Based on information learned in high school
More than a college admission exam – helps plan for life after high school
Rewards you for what you know
Choose the scores you send to colleges
Writing Test is optional
Many ways to prepare

5. Scores Reported The ACT The ACT Plus Writing * Composite not affected
English (1-36)
Mathematics (1-36)
Reading (1-36)
Science (1-36)
Composite (1-36) An average
The ACT Plus Writing
Combined English and Writing Score (1-36)*
Writing Test Subscore (2-12) *
Narrative Interpretation of Writing test Subscore
* Composite not affected

6. Non-cognitive Components
Student Profile Section:
High school course/grade information
Education plans, interests, needs
College extracurricular plans
Out of class accomplishments
EOS
Education and Career Planning
ACT Interest Inventory
World-of-Work Map
College majors and programs

7. English Test 75 questions, 45 minutes
5 essays or passages, each with a set of multiple-choice questions
Two subscores and a total test score
Usage/Mechanics 40 questions
Punctuation 10
Grammar and Usage 12
Sentence Structure 18
Rhetorical Skills 35 questions
Strategy 12
Organization 11
Style 12

8. Mathematics Test 60 questions, 60 minutes
You may use a permitted calculator.
60 questions, 60 minutes
Multiple-choice questions that require the use of reasoning skills to solve practical problems
Three subscores and a total test score
Pre-Algebra 14 questions
Elementary Algebra 10
Intermediate Algebra 9
Coordinate Geometry 9
Plane Geometry 14
Trigonometry 4

9. Reading Test 40 questions, 35 minutes
4 passages, each with a set of multiple-choice questions
Two subscores and a total test score
Social Studies/Sciences 20 questions
Social Studies 10
Natural Sciences 10
Arts/Literature 20 questions
Prose Fiction 10
Humanities 10

10. Science Test 40 questions, 35 minutes
You are not permitted to use a calculator.
40 questions, 35 minutes
7 sets of scientific information – measure student’s interpretation, analysis, evaluation, reasoning, and problem solving skills
One score - Biology, Earth/Space Sciences, Chemistry, Physics
Data Representation 15 questions
Research Summaries 18
Conflicting Viewpoints

11. Writing Test (optional)
Must be completed in English.
1 writing prompt, 30 minutes
Essay test that measures writing skills emphasized in high school English classes and entry-level college composition courses
Make and articulate judgments
Develop a position
Sustain focus
Organize and present ideas logically
Communicate clearly in writing

12. Additional Information
No penalty for guessing
Student decides what scores are sent to colleges
Length of test: 3 hours 25 min (including the optional 30 min Writing Test)

13. Scoring Timeline Receiving scores Sending scores Online: ACT 3-4 weeks
ACT Plus Writing 5-8 weeks
Mailed: ACT 3-8 weeks
Sending scores
4 total with registration (free)
Can send additional score reports for fee

14. How to Register
Create a student web account and register online:
Register for the ACT 24/7
View your scores 3-4 weeks after testing for FREE
Real-time seat assignment
Print your admissions ticket
Receive reminders
Decide where to send your scores
Update your student profile
FREE sample test questions

15. Test Security Enhancements
Students will be required to:
Provide their gender and upload
a photo of themselves
Provide their high school code
Score reports will be sent
automatically to students’ high schools
All acceptable IDs require a photo
No stand-by walk-ins on day of test

16. Three Choices for Testing with Accommodations
ACT Center Testing #1
standard time
ACT Center Testing #2
50% extended time
ACT Special Testing
at school
> 50% extended time
alternate formats
ACT provides three types of testing for students with disabilities. The first order of business is to chose the testing type that can provide the student with the accommodations he or she needs in order to access the test.
Each of the three testing choices results in a college-reportable score.

17. ACT Center Testing #1 Standard time with accommodations
Regular- or large-type test booklet
Examples:
Wheelchair access
Sign-language interpreter to sign spoken instruction
Diabetics allowed to eat snacks during testing
ACT Center Testing #1 takes place at a National Test center and is for students who can test with standard time and regular or large-type, plus other accommodations. Most basic sort of access.

18. Requesting ACT Center Testing #1
May register on-line or with paper registration folder:
Student name, address, phone
Explain disability and describe accommodations
Written documentation of accommodations in school
Name and phone number of school official to contact if ACT has questions
Written requests must come in with a paper registration folder.
Details are in the registration booklet, and on the web.

19. 5 hours for ACT (no writing)
ACT Center Testing #2
Available all test dates
Small group assigned to separate room
Up to 50% extended time
Self-paced
Regular (10 pt) or large-type (18 pt)
These students may also request any of the accommodations available Center Testing #1
Center Testing #2 is the same as National Extended Time
The term ‘self-paced’ means that the student has a block of time to complete all the tests in the examination in standard order. The student can choose to spend whatever amount of time he or she pleases on each subject test, as long as the test is finished within the allowed time. Students are advised during testing of the time elapsed and encouraged to move on to the next test.
Students who can test with time-and-a-half using regular or large-print materials will be shifted to this option even if they apply for Special Testing.
5 hours for ACT (no writing)
5 hours 45 mins.
if ACT Plus Writing

20. ACT Special Testing at School
More than 50% extended time and/or testing over multiple days
Alternate formats such as:
Braille, audiocassette, audio DVD, reader
Computer or scribe for essay
6 discrete testing windows:
(One in September, October, December,
February, April, and June)
All Special Testing must take place
during a 3-week window that begins
on each National test day.
ACT assigns a timing code based on the diagnosis and format of the testing materials - may be double or triple time – some formats, by their nature take longer to use. Braille, for example or any of the audio formats.
Standard time over multiple days must also be requested.
The testing year for special testing begins with the September test date and ends two weeks after the June test date. Applications for students who do not plan to take the Writing Test are accepted on a rolling fashion and need not synchronize with the ACT National test dates. However, students who take the ACT Plus Writing must test within the 2-week test date window.
Accommodations for the Writing Test:
Students diagnosed only with developmental writing disorder, disorder of written expression, or dysgraphia are NOT eligible for extended time on the multiple choice tests but MAY be eligible for extended time only on the Writing Test.
Such students may be authorized for standard-time on the multiple choice and double time on the Writing Test. If approved, they must test through Special Testing.
Students approved for a scribe or a computer to respond to the Writing Test must also test through Special Testing.
Double or
triple time

21. Which Form to Submit?
Application for ACT Extended Time National Testing
Request for ACT Special Testing
Supplies of both forms are distributed to high schools each fall.
Both are also available for downloading on our website.
One feature of the website is a comparison chart that may help students choose the correct test option.
It is important to use the right form for the type of testing you are requesting.
(Both may be downloaded from Select “Students with Disabilities.”

22. Eligibility Requirements
Professionally-diagnosed disability that precludes testing with standard time or requires multiple days
Current confirmation of diagnosis
Current school accommodations
Eligibility requirements are the SAME whether requesting Special Testing or Extended Time National Testing.
By ‘professionally diagnosed’ ACT means a diagnostic professional such as a psychologist, psychiatrist, or medical physician or a school team making an identification through the special education IEP process.
ACT considers yearly IEP plans and 504 Plan extensions as well as IEP reevaluations that speak to, but indicate no need for, further formal assessment as current confirmation of diagnosis.
The accommodations being requested must be on his/her IEP or 504, and used at school for similar tests.

23. Required Documentation
Copy of test accommodations page from current IEP, or copy of current 504 or Accommodations Plan
Showing student name, effective dates of the plan, and accommodations provided at school
Requests will not be reviewed unless required documentation is included.
Independent schools are encouraged to develop a team process for writing and documenting an official accommodations plan.
Be sure the copy of the IEP, 504 or accommodations plan includes the student’s name and the effective dates of the plan, and be sure it clearly states the accommodations provided in school. Check to be sure those are consistent with the accommodations you are requesting.

24. Recent Diagnosis or Recent Plan?
Within last 3 years:
Submit full written diagnostic documentation
Most disorders that reach the level of disability are developmental in nature. If student’s diagnosis is relatively new, or if an accommodations plan was added at school within last 3 years, submit complete diagnostic information.
Students are typically diagnosed at a young age. Questions arise regarding the functional limitation experienced by a student if they have progressed through school without accommodations until the 11th or 12th grade.
Diagnostic documentation is sensitive and protected information. ACT follows a confidentiality policy consistent with Federal requirements

25. No IEP, 504, or Accommodations Plan?
Exceptions Process:
Submit school letter detailing current test accommodations and frequency of use
If no accommodations at school, detailed explanation required
Full written diagnostic documentation required
Provide as much information as you can -- we can know only as much as the documentation submitted tells us.
Allow additional time for review of exceptions.
ACT applies the same documentation requirements and ADA standards to students from independent or parochial schools as those from public school.

26. Common Reasons for Denial
Incomplete application
Missing signatures, no copy of IEP or 504, no history of accommodations
Diagnosis or plan within last 3 years
Must include written diagnostic documentation, including full report including all scores and subscores from diagnostic tests
No description of substantial impairment to
learning caused by the condition
Effects on learning and academic achievement
The most frequent reason for denial is incomplete submissions -- check everything carefully before sending it in. If requesting Extended Time National Testing, student will also need to submit a completed paper registration folder the first time he or she requests test accommodations.
Students with long-standing IEPs and well-stated diagnoses, and accommodations consistent with those on their current plans, will generally be approved.
If diagnosis is overly broad or general -- e.g., the form states it must be more specific than “learning disabled,” “other health impaired,” “perceptual communications disorder,’ auditory processing deficits” -- we will ask for more information.
Having a diagnosis alone is not sufficient -- there must be a resulting functional limitation.

27. If a student is denied… Request reconsideration
Provide missing information
Contact ACT
Dialog with ACT
Students and their parents have the major responsibility for completing Requests for Extended Time National Testing. ACT sends denial letters directly to them.
The Special Testing test supervisor completes the Request for Special Testing. Both the testing supervisor and the family receive Special Testing denial letters.
The denial letter tells what information is missing. The reconsideration process can continue as long as there is additional information to review. Sometimes, when the deadline for submitting additional documentation for a particular test date is near, a reconsideration must be for a future test date.
Remember, all ACT knows about your student is what you have told us. You know your students better than ACT can ever know them. ACT considers information from schools as reliable. When a teacher calls in to tell ACT that we don’t understand her student’s situation, we consider it an opportunity to learn.

28. Recent Volumes
Over 123,000 requests for extended time or alternate formats annually
ACT typically approves approximately 90% of all requests
Testing with accommodations has remained constant at about 3-4% of total tests administered annually

29. Easy Steps for Repeat Testing
Extended Time National Testing —
Re-Registration
No need to resubmit documentation
By phone: specify request for SAME accommodations previously approved
By folder: complete only side 1 of new Extended Time Application
Registering on the web: student will be reminded that she had accommodations for a previous National test date. Must indicate if she wants the same accommodations.
If a student has been approved for test accommodations for Extended Time National Testing, there are three easy ways to re-register – by telephone, by folder and on the web.

30. Easy Steps for Repeat Testing
Special Testing — Retest Requests
No documentation needed for SAME accommodations
Complete side 1 of new Special Testing Request Form
Enclose copy of ACT accommodations letter student received for prior testing
Students who tested through Special Testing may not re-register on the web. The test supervisor must complete and sign side 1 of the new Special Testing Request Form.

31. Prepare for the Test Preparing for the ACT (free)
The Real ACT Prep Guide
ACT Online Prep
(free)

32. Preparing for the ACT (free booklet)
Full-Length Practice Test, including a Writing Test
Information about the Optional Writing Test
Strategies to Prepare for the Tests
What to Expect on Test Day

33. The Real ACT Prep Guide (with or without CD)
5 practice tests each with an optional writing test
Explanations for all right and wrong answers
Test-taking strategies for all 4 subject areas

34. ACT Online Prep Familiarizing students with how the test works
Diagnostic Test and 2 practice tests
Custom Study Path
Take the Tour: go to select
The Test, select ACT Online Prep

36. Student Resources www.actstudent.org Testing Tips
Sample Questions with Explanatory Answers
ACT Question of the Day
Map of College Majors
Interactive World-of-Work Map
Financial Aid and Scholarship Information

37. Sample Test Questions

38. Parent Resources Test FAQ College planning checklists Newsletters
Test FAQ
College planning checklists
Newsletters
Tools and resources
Financial Aid Need Estimator
Interactive Map of College Majors
Interactive Work-of-Work Map

39. Free Publications for Families
Why Take the ACT?
Preparing for the ACT (English and Spanish)
Get Set for College
Using Your ACT Results (English and Spanish)
Family Firsts: Guide for Parents of First-Generation College Students (English and Spanish)
Family Firsts: Guide for First-Generation College Students

40. Prepare early to be successful!!!!
Good Luck!!
Prepare early to be successful!!!!