Historically, a large and disproportionate share of students who register for an ACT national test date with a fee waiver have not subsequently taken the test on their registered test date. In this issue brief, this phenomenon is referred to as "test-day absenteeism." This is the second brief in a series of studies that investigate ACT's…

The research summarized in this paper examines the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on student performance on the ACT[TM] test. The author compares scores during the three years preceding the pandemic (2018, 2019, and early 2020) to scores in 2021 and 2022 while accounting for changes in the tested population across years. For students tested in…

Taking the ACT test is an important step in the college-going process. Over 1,500 colleges across the US educating approximately 1.5 million first-time degree-seeking undergraduates either require, recommend, or consider test scores as a criterion for admission decisions. The registration fees for taking the ACT on a national test date--at $55 for…

This study employs hierarchal linear modeling to examine whether high school grade inflation occurred between 2010 and 2021, including for students who were tested during the pandemic. The study does so while simultaneously accounting for student and school characteristics. This is the first study, to the current authors' knowledge, that makes use…

The interactions of race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) in predicting social and emotional (SE) skills was examined for 81,950 6th-8th graders. At low levels of SES, White students tended to have the lower SE scores. However, as SES increased, they tended to have higher scores relative to minority groups. Across SES levels, Asian…

At least 55 million students ended the school year learning at home after approximately 124,000 public and private schools closed their doors due to the coronavirus pandemic. This "new normal" created uncertainty among high school students about their futures as many struggled with the pandemic's compounding effects as they also worried…

This report looks at the progress of the ACT®-tested 2019 US high school graduating class relative to college and career readiness. The data in this report are based on nearly 1.8 million graduates--52% of the students in the 2019 national graduating class--who took the ACT at some time from grade 10 to 12. The ACT was taken by the majority of…

Many students who earn a bachelor's degree also aspire to earn a graduate degree. In this study, we examined student and institutional characteristics that are related to graduate school enrollment. Student characteristics included demographic characteristics; high school performance measures, coursework taken, and extracurricular activities;…

The 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) known as No Child Left Behind and more recent federal initiatives such as Race to the Top and the ESEA flexibility waiver have brought student growth to the forefront of education reform for assessing school and teacher effectiveness. This study examined growth…

In this research report, we review commonly held beliefs about test-optional policies and practices. Focusing solely on empirical evidence, we highlight research findings that directly address the state intentions and actual outcomes of such practices. Throughout the paper, we raise concerns with test-optional policies as they pertain both to…

In this technical brief, the authors summarize empirical evidence from their full report comparing the stated intentions and actual outcomes of test-optional practices. An overview of five commonly stated assertions of test-optional practices along with empirical evidence that contradicts these assertions is provided in this brief. [For the full…

Slow economic growth in the past several years has strained the financial resources of many American families and heightened financial burdens for families hoping to support their children's college education. These economic struggles come at a critical time for high school students who rely on family resources to fund large portions of college…

This study explores inflation in high school grade point average (HSGPA), defined as trend over time in the conditional average of HSGPA, given ACT® Composite score. The time period considered is 2004 to 2011. Using hierarchical linear modeling, the study updates a previous analysis of Woodruff and Ziomek (2004). The study also investigates…

This report focuses on the extent to which students who are academically far off track in fourth or eighth grade in Arkansas catch up by eighth or eleventh and twelfth grades. We studied two recent cohorts of Arkansas students whose eighth-grade ACT Explore® scores were more than one standard deviation below the ACT Explore Benchmark scores…

In recent years educators and policymakers have set a goal that students graduate from high school ready for college and careers. However, as a nation we are far from achieving this goal, particularly for low-income and minority students. For example, in states where all eleventh-graders take the ACT[R], only 27 percent of low-income students in…