LOCALIZE IT: ACT test scores drop, testing mandate in flux

Virus Outbreak Test Scores

EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS

Results from the ACT, which were made public this week, reveal a decline in preparedness for college-level coursework. The average composite score was 19.8 out of 36.

This year was the first time since 1991 that the average score was below 20, and it was the lowest average in more than 30 years. The report also shows 42% of ACT-tested graduates in the class of 2022 met none of the ACT’s subject benchmarks, which are indicators of how well students are expected to perform in college courses.

The scores offer a lens into systemic inequities in education, in place well before the pandemic shuttered schools and colleges waived testing requirements. Read AP's latest here.

Some tips for localizing the story:

HOW TO GET LOCAL DATA

— ACT results from the graduating class of 2022 are available on the website of the nonprofit organization that administers the tests. It includes average scores for each state, along the percentage of students in each state who took the ACT. Data should be compared between states with the same or similar percentages of tested students.

— Students receive individualized results as early as two weeks after testing. Districts and schools receive data electronically in the weeks and months immediately after students test. However, timing depends on whether students test on national Saturday testing or through state/district weekday testing. Districts and schools can request graduating class data for their students from the ACT. That data can be accessed by requesting it from institutions individually.

POTENTIAL SOURCES

— FairTest has become a leading voice in the push against entrance exams, and it engages frequently with the media. It also keeps a list of colleges with test-optional or test-blind policies: FairTest Staff Directory and Public Policy Communications Director Robert Schaeffer is reachable at bobschaeffer@fairtest.org

— This UChicago professor led research finding that GPAs were better measures than the ACT: https://consortium.uchicago.edu/about/staff/elaine-allensworth

— College Access Plan is among the groups that sued the UC system over its testing requirement: Staff Directory and Kate Jordan, Director, Operations & Communications, is reachable at kate@collegeaccessplan.org

— A 2019 letter to UC from testing critics includes references to key research that has been used in opposition of entrance exams: https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/SAT-ACT-UCDemandLetter.pdf

— It’s a couple years old, but these Brookings researchers explored inequity and bias in the SAT and ACT: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/12/01/sat-math-scores-mirror-and-maintain-racial-inequity/

QUESTIONS/REPORTING TIPS

— The number of students taking the test has declined over the years, but it is even more apparent when comparing participation by racial demographic. Is the test accessible to students who want to or need to take it for a better chance at receiving financial support?

— The debate over whether standardized testing is an accurate measure of student readiness is pushing universities to choose if they will be test optional, test blind, test flexible or test required. Does data support higher admissions of students from low-income backgrounds as a result of not requiring the test?

— What are districts and schools doing with the results of standardized testing? Is there a direct correlation between declining test scores and initiatives by districts to change curriculum or standards?

PUBLISHABLE CONTEXT

Colleges’ reliance on the SAT and ACT has been waning in recent years amid findings that the exams are a better predictor of race and wealth than college readiness. Even before the pandemic, notable colleges including the University of Chicago had moved to make the exams optional as a way to widen access for low-income and first-generation students. Universities across the U.S. followed during the pandemic, saying entrance exams would be optional for at least a few years.

Entrance exams are now optional at more than 1,700 colleges, and about 80 have eliminated them from the admissions process entirely, according to FairTest, a group that opposes standardized testing. Included among the test-optional schools are Harvard University, which won’t require the tests through 2026, and other selective schools.

Under pressure from testing opponents, the University of California system started to phase out the SAT and ACT in 2021, with plans to replace them with its own exam by 2025. The system was sued by a coalition of students and community groups that alleged the SAT and ACT discriminate against minority and low-income students. The lawsuit relied on research finding the exams favor wealthy, white applicants who have access to expensive tutoring programs. Meanwhile, other research has found that high school grades are a much better measure of college readiness.

Still, some universities have reinstated testing requirements that were paused during the pandemic. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology revived its test requirement this year, saying the exams help “identify socioeconomically disadvantaged students who lack access to advanced coursework or other enrichment opportunities.”

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Localize It is an occasional feature produced by The Associated Press for its customers’ use. Questions can be directed to Katie Oyan at koyan@ap.org.