Understanding the ACT and Iowa Assessments: A Comprehensive Guide
The ACT (originally an abbreviation of American College Testing) is a standardized test used for college admissions in the United States. It assesses skills acquired in secondary education that are crucial for success in postsecondary education. Along with the ACT, the Iowa Assessments are a comprehensive set of measures that assess student achievement in Kindergarten through Grade 12.
The ACT: Structure and Scoring
The ACT contains four multiple-choice tests: English, mathematics, reading, and science, and an optional writing test. The score range for each of the four multiple-choice tests is 1-36. The composite score is the average of these four numbers. Each question answered correctly is worth one raw point, and there is no penalty for marking incorrect answers on the multiple-choice parts of the test; a student can answer all questions without a decrease in their score due to incorrect answers.
English Test
The ACT English test puts an examinee in the position of a writer who makes decisions to revise and edit a text. It is a 45-minute test covering usage/mechanics, sentence structure, and rhetorical skills. Short texts and essays in different genres provide a variety of rhetorical situations. The 75-question test consists of five passages with various sections underlined on one side of the page and options to correct the underlined portions on the other side of the page. You will also receive subscores, including usage/mechanics and rhetorical skills.
Mathematics Test
The ACT mathematics test assesses the skills students typically acquire in courses taken through grade 11. The material covered on the test emphasizes the major content areas that are prerequisites to successful performance in entry-level courses in college mathematics. It is a 60-minute, 60-question math test with the usual distribution of questions being approximately 14 covering pre-algebra, 10 elementary algebra, 9 intermediate algebra, 14 plane geometry, 9 coordinate geometry, and 4 elementary trigonometry questions. Calculators are permitted in this section only. You will also receive subscores, including algebra, geometry, and trigonometry.
Reading Test
The ACT reading test measures the ability to read closely, reason logically about texts using evidence, and integrate information from multiple sources. The test questions focus on the mutually supportive skills that readers must bring to bear in studying written materials across a range of subject areas. The reading section is a 35-minute, 40-question test that consists of four sections, three of which contain one long prose passage and one which contains two shorter prose passages. You will also receive subscores, including social studies/natural sciences and arts/literature.
Read also: Iowa State Requirements
Science Test
The ACT science test measures the interpretation, analysis, evaluation, reasoning, and problem-solving skills required in the natural sciences. The test presents several authentic scientific scenarios, each followed by a number of multiple-choice test questions. The content of the test includes biology, chemistry, Earth/space sciences (e.g., geology, astronomy, and meteorology), and physics. The optional science section is a 35-minute, 40-question test. There are seven passages each followed by five to seven questions. The passages have three different formats: Data Representation, Research Summary, and Conflicting Viewpoints. The science section which is scored in its completion.
Writing Test (Optional)
The optional ACT writing test is an essay test that measures writing skills taught in high school English classes and entry level college composition courses. The test consists of one writing prompt that describes a complex issue and provides three different perspectives on the issue. You are asked to read the prompt and write an essay in which you develop your own perspective on the issue. Your essay must analyze the relationship between your own perspective and one or more other perspectives. The writing test is also scored on a scale of 1 to 36. You will also receive four writing domain scores, including “Ideas and Analysis,” “Development and Support,” “Organization,” and “Language Use and Conventions,” which are scored on a scale of 2 to 12.
ACT College Readiness Benchmarks
The ACT College Readiness Benchmarks are the minimum ACT scores required for students to have a high probability of success in credit-bearing first-year college courses. Students who meet a benchmark on the ACT have approximately a 50% chance of earning a B or better and approximately a 75% chance of earning a C or better in the corresponding college course or courses.
STEM Benchmark
The STEM benchmark was based on a combination of typical first-year math and science college courses taken by students majoring in STEM fields, specifically, calculus, biology, chemistry, physics and engineering. The ACT STEM score benchmark of 26 is associated with at least a 50% chance of earning a B or higher in a STEM-related course. A student’s STEM score is the average of his or her Math and Science scores.
ELA Benchmark
The ELA Readiness Benchmark represents the level of achievement necessary for students to have a 50% chance of obtaining a B or higher or about a 75% chance of obtaining a C or higher in a combination of typical first-year English and social science college courses. These courses include English composition, American history, other history, psychology, sociology, political science, and economics.
Read also: Iowa Universities
Additional Information on the ACT Score Report
The ACT score report provides information about a student's educational needs, extracurricular achievements, and educational plans. Subject scores aren't the only things included in the ACT score report.
High School Course/Grade Information
To increase the usefulness of ACT results, the High School Course/Grade questions ask students about the courses they have completed or plan to take in high school and the grades they have received.
ACT Interest Inventory
The 72-item ACT Interest Inventory helps students explore personally relevant career options.
Factors Influencing ACT Scores and College Admissions
Colleges usually try to take into account individual strengths and weaknesses as they place students in first-year courses. Some scholarship programs may use ACT test results with other information such as high school grades to identify qualified candidates. However, the programs may not look at academic potential alone.
The Lowest Possible ACT Score
The ACT is scored on a scale of 1-36, meaning that the absolute minimum ACT score you could get is 1. Even if you guessed on every question, you’d get a composite score of around 11-13.
Read also: The Story of UNI Panthers Football
Target Scores and College Choices
If you've already taken the ACT and have your score, you might be wondering how to pick which schools to apply to. You can use the middle 50% for those schools to set an ACT target score. An ideal goal score would be the highest 75th percentile mark of the middle 50% among the schools you are interested in.
Strategies for Improving ACT Scores
By strategically preparing for the ACT, you actually can improve your score quite a lot. You might try out a targeted, personalized ACT program, some ACT prep books, and/or tutoring.
The Iowa Assessments: Overview and Structure
The Iowa Assessments are a comprehensive set of measures that assess student achievement in Kindergarten through Grade 12. The tests are designed to provide a thorough assessment of a student’s progress in skills and standards that are essential to successful learning. The tests provide a continuous standard score scale based on the performance of nationally representative groups of students. Available for web-based or paper-based administration, three forms are available for Grades K-8; two forms are available at the high school levels.
Mathematics and Computation Tests
The Iowa Assessments Mathematics and Computation tests place an important emphasis on understanding, discovery, and quantitative thinking in mathematics. As a result, these tests provide educators, parents, and students with meaningful information that reflects each student’s abilities to meet challenging mathematics content standards. Mathematics teachers in particular appreciate test results that highlight students’ strengths and weaknesses in key mathematical skills and processes. Starting at Level 7, there are two distinct tests: Mathematics and Computation. This format enables each school system to tailor the selection of tests administered to the goals of its mathematics curriculum.
Administration and Scoring
The Iowa Assessments can be administered online or on paper, in which mode a scannable test booklet (Grades K-2) or a reusable test booklet and a scannable answer sheet (Grades 3-12) are used. As the Iowa Assessments are fixed form tests, each form has its own raw score to scale score conversion. Raw scores are converted to national standard scores to adjust for random differences in the difficulty of the parallel forms, as well as to place scores from different grade levels onto the vertical scale to support interpretations about growth. This score scale was derived from a national standardization reflective of the entire student population. Composite scores are obtained by averaging the standard scores from specific subtests (e.g., Mathematics Total is the average of Mathematics and Computation). Standard scores are converted to national percentile ranks and grade equivalents to support additional interpretations.
Cost and Accessibility
Initial cost is for online administration. Paper-based testing cost varies by grade, version of the test, and scoring package selected. Online testing for any grade level is $14.50. Machine-scorable test booklets are available in packages of 5 or 25, at an average cost per student between $9.20 - $12.80. Reusable test booklets are also available in packages of 5 or 25, at an average cost per student between $10.43 - $12.50. Braille and Large Print versions are also available for student testing. When the Iowa Assessments are administered online, students must have access to an internet-connected computer (Mac or PC).
Accommodations
All measures were developed following Universal Design for Assessment guidelines to reduce the need for accommodations. A number of accommodations that are commonly used with students taking the Iowa Assessments are listed in the Directions for Administration.
Iowa Assessments and Intervention
Consistent with an RTI approach to screening, we recommend the 10th - 20th percentile for its decision rule when identifying students within a grade in need of intensive intervention. There are two cut scores defined on the Iowa Assessments for each school system, which correspond to the state’s lowest performance level cut and to 15th percentile rank (PR) of the system’s state assessment score distribution.
Validity and Reliability
The model-based reliability estimates the proportion of variability within a single administration of a test that is due to inconsistency among the items that comprise the test. This is akin to commonly reported internal consistency measures (e.g., Cronbach’s alpha, KR-20). Reliability is defined as the proportion of test score variance that is attributable to true variation in the trait the test measures.
Iowa Assessments vs. Other Assessments
Iowa Assessments vs. ACT
Grades 6-12: students ACT scores served as the primary criterion. The ACT is commonly used by school districts to gauge their students’ level of college and career readiness as well as by postsecondary institutions for admissions and placement decisions. Cut points were defined to identify students in need of intensive intervention. This was set to the 10th PR on the ACT Math test.
Iowa Assessments vs. FAST aMath
In Grades 1-5, the grade-specific FAST aMath score was used with the corresponding Math score on the Iowa Assessments. The FAST aMath assessment is a computer-adaptive broad measure of math achievement for Grades K-8. Cut points were defined to identify students in need of intensive intervention. This was set to either the 10th PR or 20th PR on the FAST in this district, depending on grade.
Iowa Assessments vs. ISASP
The criterion is 100% independent of the Iowa Assessments. They are published by separate organizations and for different purposes. Whereas the Iowa Assessments are national administered achievement tests published by Riverside Insights, the ISASP is published independently by Pearson and available only in the state of Iowa. Cut points were defined to identify students in need of intensive intervention. This was set to the 10th PR on the ISASP in the state of Iowa.
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