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ACT Announces Changes to National and State Testing

Published on

DATE:   
Thursday, July 25, 2024

TO:  
High School Administrators

FROM:  
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:  
ACT Changes and Enhancements

ACT recently announced changes to the ACT test for both national testing as well as the state-mandated 11th grade administration. The official announcement from ACT may be accessed in its entirety here. Following is a summary of the announced changes:

New National ACT Testing Options

The following ACT test enhancements for national testing will be rolled out starting the spring of 2025:

  • The ACT test enhancements are designed to offer more flexibility and choice for states, districts, and students.
  • The test sections of English, math, and reading will remain as the core sections of the ACT test that will result in a college-reportable composite score.
    • Science will be removed from the ACT test. However, students will have the option to take the ACT, the ACT + Science, the ACT + Writing, or the ACT + Science and Writing.
    • Students can choose to take the science and/or writing section, but they will not be included in the ACT composite score. If the science test is taken, it will be used to calculate a STEM score.
  • The test length will be reduced by up to one-third using shorter reading passages on the English and reading sections and fewer question items in all sections (44 fewer questions in all).
    • The new core test (without science) will take about two hours to complete.

State-mandated 11th Grade Administration

The ACT test enhancements for the 11th grade administration will be rolled out beginning in the spring of 2026 (no changes for the 2024-25 11th grade administration of the ACT):

  • The core ACT test sections of English, math, reading, and science will remain.
  • The test length will be reduced by using shorter passages in English and fewer question items in three of the four sections (44 fewer questions in all).
  • The science section will have the same number of items (40), but more time to complete them (45 minutes).
  • New science content has been added that will relate to the three-dimensional standards, thus helping it align better with the Utah SEED standards.
  • Utah will continue testing science on the 11th grade administration until the end of its contract with ACT in 2027.

For questions about these changes, please contact Ben Jameson in Assessment, Research & Accountability.

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