Local schools will participate in new ACT testing program
by
Josh Egbert
Story Created:
Jan 25, 2012 at 5:57 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Jan 25, 2012 at 6:36 PM CDT
This spring, an estimated 3800 Nebraska students will be required to take the ACT test under a new pilot program. More than 250 of those students are right here in Hastings.
The Hastings Public School district is one of just eight in state participating in the three year program.
The Nebraska State Board of Education is hoping to get answers to two questions with the test:
Will making the ACT available spur more students to consider college? And, will students perform better on the ACT or the statewide tests that's given now.
On April 24, 253 juniors at Hastings Senior High will be taking the ACT's.
The test is being required under a new three-year pilot program.
"The use of the ACT might be better because we can reduce the test footprint but still get very good valuable, reliable and valid information about how our students are doing."
Along with Hastings, Lincoln, Sidney, South Sioux City, Columbus, Gering, Scottsbluff and Alliance school districts will all take part in an effort to get a good geographic and demographic cross-section.
"We wanted districts that had a variety of student populations just numerically and we also were looking for districts who had an interest in doing this themselves."
11th graders will continue taking the statewide assessment, so state officials can compare how students perform and how well the ACT measures performance on state standards.
"Have better odds of getting far more kids to care if we use the ACT, then if we use a test that really has no direct meaning to the kids who are taking it."
One of the downsides to the study is that the participating districts, and likely the state, will see lower composite ACT scores because more students will be taking the test.
The state board will be monitoring the test results over the three years to determine if the ACT should be a requirement for all Nebraska juniors.
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