One Way to Improve ACT Scores

 Most of my students are juniors and seniors who take the ACT college admissions test. In 2019, I sat for the ACT for the first time since 1984, the only time I'd ever taken it before. I did so because our school is partly judged on our students' ACT scores. I'd been tasked over the years several times to teach ACT prep classes, but I was taking for granted the materials I was handed really prepared them. I sat for the exam to see for myself what it was really like.



When I sat in 2019, I saw just how different the ACT questions are written from the way they are on a typical high school math exam. That summer, I rewrote all my assessments and my assignments for my College Algebra and Pre-Calculus classes as ACT-style questions.


My philosophy is test them on the material they are learning, but get them used to the way they're tested on this high-stakes exam while you're doing it. I don't have access to the data for a rigorous analysis, but anecdotal evidence suggests positive results. Since I implemented these changes, many students have reported dramatically improved ACT Math scores after taking these classes.


Just today our students received their results from the December administration of the ACT. It was late in the day when they came out, but I heard from two of my students who took that exam. They reported greatly improved ACT Math scores after a semester in my College Algebra class. One of them increased 5 points and the other 4.


I consider sitting for that exam one of the best professional development experiences I've had in my 18-year career. I'm asked often what I scored. I never tell, even though I was quite satisfied with my score. I don't tell others my score because I believe the experience would greatly benefit all teachers of high school students. I'm convinced it would help students improve their ACT scores, while learning the content they're supposed to learn in class.


I'd love to see more teachers take it for the same reasons. I don't want it to become a contest between teachers, or a way to evaluate or judge teachers, but a way to improve instruction and assessment for the benefit of students.

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