This study examined differences in participation or nonparticipation in an ACT preparation course, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on ACT scores. Practice ACT scores were used as a covariate to control for individual differences in student scores. Participants consisted of 264 students from one graduating class at a large high school in…

Studies have investigated contextual factors such as family, school, and peer support for test preparation, and results generally indicate that students with a stronger support system are more successful at increasing their scores by the use of test preparation. One important contextual factor, often overlooked in the literature, is how a testing…

This data byte explores students' open-ended responses about how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted them academically. Students commented on the impact to their opportunities for taking the ACT® test; issues of time related to taking the test, preparing for the test, and college admissions deadlines; and the greater demands being placed on them…

Test preparation plays an important role in high-stakes standardized testing. While test preparation companies may claim large, at times unrealistic, gains associated with product use, much of which can be very costly, scientific research supports a more moderate impact of test preparation. ACT offers a number of test preparation opportunities for…

The purpose of this comparative study was to determine the effectiveness of 2 ACT intervention preparation programs. One was a face-to-face ACT intervention preparation program and the 2nd was a computer-based ACT intervention preparation program. Both of these intervention programs were used with at-risk high school juniors and seniors in a large…

Almost two-thirds of students entering a community college and a third of students entering a 4-year college lack basic math and writing skills, and they often find themselves placed in developmental or remedial courses in their first year of college. Unfortunately, students placed into remedial math and English courses often have poorer…

High-stakes, standardized testing plays an important role in the lives of many students as they apply to college and compete for scholarships. In states where college readiness measures, like the ACT® test, are used for school and district accountability, the ACT scores of all students, whether college-bound or not, are a top priority for school…

ACT reporting categories and ACT Readiness Ranges are new features added to the ACT score reports starting in fall 2016. For each reporting category, the number correct score, the maximum points possible, the percent correct, and the ACT Readiness Range, along with an indicator of whether the reporting category score falls within the Readiness…

Even though it often feels like standardized testing is a relatively recent phenomena, it has been around at least since the 1800s, when in China, those that wanted a government job were required to take a test on their expertise of Confucian philosophy and poetry. During the Industrial Revolution, standardized tests were a quick way to test large…

This discussion paper represents one of the National Association for College Admission Counseling's (NACAC's) first post-Testing Commission steps in advancing the knowledge base and dialogue about test preparation. It describes various types of test preparation programs and summarizes the existing academic research on the effects of test…