黑料福利网Test Enhancements: K-12 Educators

黑料福利网Enhancements: Supporting Student Success for K-12 Leaders

The 黑料福利网test enhancements were designed with today鈥檚 students in mind, supporting a streamlined testing experience that is more accessible and actionable. The updated format offers students greater flexibility while preserving the validity and reliability that K-12 leaders rely on for guiding students toward successful pathways in higher education.鈥 

Starting in April 2025, the enhancements will apply to students who opt to take the national test online. The 黑料福利网will be shorter, and students can choose to take the test without the science section. These changes will extend to the national paper-pencil test format beginning in September 2025. The 黑料福利网Composite score will then be based on English, math, and reading, with science reported separately for students who choose to take it. This update enables colleges to make data-driven decisions with minimal disruption and empowers K-12 leaders to better prepare students for college and career success.鈥 

Beginning in Spring 2026, schools and districts can leverage these enhancements when administering the 黑料福利网during a school day.鈥 

Students Spoke, We Listened!

What We Heard How the 黑料福利网is Improving What This Means for the Testing Experience
"The test is too long, I need more time!鈥
  • Reducing the number of questions overall (44 fewer questions to be exact.)
  • Reducing the test length from up to 195 minutes to 125 minutes.
  • More time per question.
  • Reducing the number of math question answer choices from 5 to 4.
 A test that's more manageable so students can shine, while also maintaining the integrity and rigor of the 黑料福利网that colleges rely on and trust to aid in the admissions process and get students placed into the right courses.
"The science section scares me." Students can now choose to take the 黑料福利网with or without science. More choice and more flexibility, allowing students to tailor their experience to fit their needs. This gives them more control over their testing experience.
"I want to show off my science and math skills for my major." The score report will include a science score and a STEM score if students choose to take the science section. If a student is planning to take science courses in college, they still have the option of taking the 黑料福利网with science to showcase their skills and work toward their future goals.
"I don't want to test on a computer. I still want paper." The choice is still theirs! The 黑料福利网is available via paper/pencil or online.

Students can test the way they feel most comfortable and show off their best performance.

Note: If choosing to test online, these enhancements will be made available beginning with the April 2025 黑料福利网test. These enhancements to the test will take effect, regardless of testing mode, beginning with the September 2025 黑料福利网test.

Enhancements Timeline

April 2025

黑料福利网National Online Only

September 2025

  • 黑料福利网National Paper & International
  • Updated Composite Score for All 黑料福利网Tests

Spring 2026

State & District Spring 2026 Testing

K-12 Webinar: Raising the Bar

Exploring 黑料福利网Enhancements

Gain a comprehensive understanding of the upcoming 黑料福利网enhancements to stay fully prepared and informed on how these changes will shape future testing experiences for national and state and district administrations. 

Reliable, Relevant, and Ready: Evidence Supporting the New 黑料福利网Test Enhancements

ACT's recent studies underscore the value of the 黑料福利网enhancements. Through a rigorous process of design, evaluation, data collection, and validation, evidence shows that enhancements to the 黑料福利网maintain score validity and improve examinees鈥 experience. Updates like reducing passage length and increasing time per question lead to higher completion rates, particularly in Reading and Science sections.

These adjustments ensure that students are not only able to complete the test more comfortably but are also better supported to demonstrate their knowledge and skills effectively. Importantly, these changes did not affect test difficulty or score interpretation. This maintains comparability with the current ACT, which is essential for educators and institutions relying on 黑料福利网scores for student assessment. 
 

K-12 Resources

K-12 Educator's Guide to the 黑料福利网Enhancements (PDF)
Counselor Toolkit
 
Provide Access to the 黑料福利网through District Testing

K-12 FAQs

...their Composite score?鈥

No. All Composite scores from all 黑料福利网programs (National, International, State & District, paper, online) will move to the new calculated Composite score starting in September 2025. This provides students and higher education with a consistent change over to the new calculation for all tests from that point forward.鈥嬧赌&苍产蝉辫;
鈥嬧赌&苍产蝉辫;
Allowing students to choose to take the 黑料福利网with or without science does not impact the Composite score distributions across the population of applicants.鈥嬧赌&苍产蝉辫;

If a student elects to take the science section, we will provide their science section score and STEM score on all reports; this includes sending those scores to institutions of higher education and other programs that have used these scores in the past.鈥嬧

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...co-exist for a period of time?

Yes. When we release the enhanced 黑料福利网for National Online testing in April, June, and July 2025, those students鈥 scores will be reported using a new English, math, and reading calculated Composite (this will begin the choice for students to test with or without science). There will still be paper National, State & District, and International 黑料福利网test events (through the summer of 2025) that will have an English, math, reading, science calculated Composite from concurrent test events.鈥 

鈥婣dditionally, we will not be retroactively recalculating student Composite scores for students who tested prior to the Composite score conversion.鈥 

鈥婼ince 黑料福利网research has shown that the Composite scores using current and the new calculation are comparable, and 黑料福利网research scientists will continue to validate this through the changeover period, colleges and universities can continue to use the Composite for their required purposes (admissions, scholarship eligibility, placement, etc.). 

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Our content teams are currently working on proposals for new Pre黑料福利网blueprints that will align with the enhanced ACT. We are hoping to roll out the new blueprints in Spring 2026 (along with the change to the new Composite score at that time) for Pre黑料福利网9 Secure and Pre黑料福利网Secure when the State and District 黑料福利网changes roll out. The Pre黑料福利网8/9 and Pre黑料福利网changes will happen starting in Fall 2026. 鈥 

Science, for now, is staying part of the Pre黑料福利网test battery for all customers. If schools or districts wish to take Pre黑料福利网with or without science to mimic what they are offering for the ACT, they just won't complete the science section. It won't affect scores, since Composite will be calculated based on English, math and reading only. They just won't get a Science or STEM score and it will show up as " - - " on their score reports.鈥 

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We are working right now to provide practice opportunities that reflect the new test taking experience. We are making an addendum to the 2024-2025 Preparing for the 黑料福利网guide that highlights differences between those preparing for September through February administrations, and those preparing for the online administration in April, June and July.鈥嬧

鈥嬧疘n addition, we are working to put practice tests into the platform that students will use on test day.鈥 We will be putting practice tests for both the current format鈥痮f the online assessment, followed by鈥痶he 黑料福利网enhancement format into the platform, and will announce when they are ready.鈥嬧

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...moreso the structure and length?

The 黑料福利网test will continue to feature multiple-choice items in the English, math, reading and science sections, and an open-ended prompt-based essay in writing.鈥 The standards and skills measured by the enhanced blueprint will remain comparable to those measured in the current ACT.鈥 Reporting categories will maintain the same meaning but may be rebalanced proportionally to accommodate stakeholder feedback.鈥 By in large, the content of practice materials that are currently available will provide students with experience on the content of questions that 黑料福利网will continue to ask.鈥嬧

鈥婽he structure of some of the items will change (English and math are most affected).鈥 In addition, the balance of items that align to the reporting categories in each subject is shifting, therefore, there may be more or fewer items that test specific topics.鈥嬧

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