Test Optional - Test Alternative is closer to what is actually happening in College Admissions

Interesting to consider the future of testing in the college admissions process -- look at 3 recent College Board decisions:

1) the AP Exams - while most AP Exams will be available digitally if need be, the foreign language ones (this year) are not - colleges want to see the entire foreign language exam, not just the speaking section. So if AP Spanish, French and German cannot be administered in person due to Covid-19, College Board will provide another option - CLEP Exams for free later on.

2) National Merit - for students unable to take PSAT this past fall or in Jan 2021, students will have up to June 2021 to take the SAT for submission/consideration to National Merit Scholarship, but students must complete the ALTERNATIVE ENTRY FORM by April 1st -

https://www.nationalmerit.org/.../alternateentry2022.pdf...

3). National Recognition Scholarship Program - expanding to include AP Exams and 10th Grade PSAT - https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/.../recognition...

(Source: CB Counselor Newsletter Feb 25, 2021)

COLLEGEREADINESS.COLLEGEBOARD.ORG

ACT to Launch Online Learning Program for ACT College Entrance Exam

ACT to Launch ACT Academy, a Free, Online Learning Program Designed to Help Improve ACT Scores, College Readiness

Find the text of the full Jan 23, 2018 press release below or the link can be found here. 

IOWA CITY, Iowa—ACT today announced plans to launch ACT® Academy™, a free online learning tool and test practice program designed to help students master the skills they need to improve their ACT scores and succeed in college and career. The program will be launched in the spring. 

ACT Academy will help students improve their college and career readiness by providing them with video lessons, interactive practice questions, full-length practice tests, educational games and other materials targeted to their academic needs. Each student will receive their own personalized study plan based on their scores from the ACT® test, PreACT®, official ACT practice tests, or diagnostics within ACT Academy.

 
“ACT Academy will help students improve their readiness for the ACT test and college and career by giving them the resources they need to increase their understanding of core academic skills,” said Suzana Delanghe, ACT chief commercial officer. “And the fact that ACT Academy will be free to all students is yet another way ACT is working to close gaps in equity, opportunity and achievement for underserved learners.”

ACT Academy will provide students with engaging content and materials developed by ACT, the Khan Academy, NASA, PBS and other learning organizations in one convenient place. All of the content will be sorted by efficacy, so students receive the resources that have been proven to be most effective for each skill. It will include the high-quality materials of ACT’s OpenEd, the leading online resource library for K-12 teachers. 

ACT Academy will be compatible with all devices and will allow students to work on building their skills anytime, anywhere they have internet access. Parents, teachers, and counselors can also use ACT Academy to help students study and learn. 

One unique advantage ACT Academy will provide students is the ability to drill down and pinpoint building-block skills they have missed. Every user will have access to thousands of ACT resources, as well as ACT’s proven tips and strategies. 

For more information about ACT Academy, visit: www.act.org/academy.