As students transition between high school and college or career, many have begun to consider their future career paths or want to identify career options that will best fit them. To better understand the types of career characteristics that students want to explore, this study surveys a random sample of 11th and 12th-grade students who registered…

This paper documents the development of the Mosaic Readiness Index, a score that is reported for individuals who take the high school version of Mosaic by ACT®: Social Emotional Learning Assessment (hereafter referred to as the Mosaic assessment). The Mosaic Readiness Index is designed to predict high school academic outcomes--namely high school…

A positive school climate is important for students' social and emotional wellness and ability to learn. For example, students with positive relationships with their teachers and who feel safe at school tend to show higher academic performance (Korpershoek et al., 2020). The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship of school…

Social and emotional (SE) skills are related to many positive outcomes, including academic performance, degree attainment, and life satisfaction, and are often taught through social and emotional learning (SEL) programs. Furthermore, a positive school climate is important for students' social and emotional wellness and ability to learn. For…

Social and emotional skills change naturally over time (Roberts, Walton, & Viechtbauer, 2006) and as the result of intervention efforts designed to improve social and emotional skills (Mahoney et al., 2018). Given the known malleability of social and emotional skills and significant changes to students' environments due to COVID-19, the…

Social and emotional (SE) skills are related to many positive outcomes, including degree attainment, improved academic performance, and increased life satisfaction, and are often taught through social and emotional learning (SEL) programs. A positive school climate is important for students' social and emotional wellness and ability to learn. For…

To better understand how students perceive their physical safety in school, ACT surveyed high school students who took the ACT® test as part of a national administration in October 2018. Students were asked about their physical safety in school, including: (1) school climate; (2) the types of safety measures their school currently implements; (3)…

Safety is essential to student well-being and success. Because of this, a large percentage of parents and children are concerned about school safety. To get a better understanding of school safety from a student's perspective, ACT-tested students were surveyed and asked about their school's climate and the types of safety measures their school…

The Common Core State Standards Initiative represents one of the most significant reforms to US education in recent history. As of June 2012, 45 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the Standards. ACT is pleased to have played a leading role in the development of the Standards. Not only did the initiative draw on its longitudinal…

The Common Core State Standards Initiative represents one of the most significant reforms to US education in recent history. As of June 2012, 45 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the Standards. ACT is pleased to have played a leading role in the development of the Standards. Not only did the initiative draw on its longitudinal…