1. Let’s Think About the ACT

3. Let’s Think About the ACT (The Jan-Disclaimer)

4. College and Career Readiness Defined ACT defines college and career readiness as the acquisition of the knowledge and skills a student needs to enroll and succeed in credit- bearing, first-year courses at a postsecondary institution (such as a two- or four-year college, trade school, or technical school) without the need for remediation. ACT’s definition of college and career readiness was adopted by the Common Core State Standards Initiative and provides a unifying goal upon which educators and policymakers must now act.

6. General Assembly School Grades: Proposed Indicators Performance Composite (Elementary and High) Percent of proficient tests in a school − All tests, subjects, and grade levels − Uses the EOG/EOC test data Algebra II/Integrated III Percent of graduates who take and pass Alg. II or Int. Math III − Excludes the 1% population Graduation Rate Percent of students that graduate within 4 years (4 year cohort graduation rate) WorkKeys Percent of graduates who are CTE concentrators who achieve a Silver certificate, or better, on the WorkKeys assessment ACT Percent of college-ready benchmarks met

7. North Carolina’s College and Career Readiness System 8 th Grade Score Scale: 1—25  Test Window: October 1-31, 2012 8 th Grade Score Scale: 1—25  Test Window: October 1-31, 2012 10 th Grade Score Scale: 1—32  Test Window: October 1-31, 2012 10 th Grade Score Scale: 1—32  Test Window: October 1-31, 2012 11 th Grade Score Scale: 1—36  Test Date: March 5, 2013 11 th Grade Score Scale: 1—36  Test Date: March 5, 2013 Longitudinal Assessments 12 th Grade Career Readiness Gauge 12 th Grade Career Readiness Gauge Career/CTE English, math, reading, science, optional Writing Test (ACT only) Career and Educational Components Students completing a CTE sequence + Writing The College Readiness System is a comprehensive program intended to help states implement the policy actions necessary to help prepare every student for college and work. The system is a fully aligned, research-based solution.

8. ACT & Common Core College and career readiness and the Common Core State Standards are competitive world wide. These standards are high and challenging standards on their own. www.act.org/commoncore

10. Do all staff members know what is assessed on the ACT?

11. Which staff member(s) are responsible for teaching the ACT content?

12. Which staff member(s) are responsible for teaching the PLAN/ACT test taking strategies ?

13. Do all students know what is assessed on the ACT?

14. Do they know the appropriate test- taking tips?

15. 25 36 32 Longitudinal Assessments College Readiness System Scores

16. PLAN helps 10th graders build a solid foundation for future academic and career success. PLAN is a curriculum-based educational and career planning program that measures achievement in English, math, reading, and science. PLAN is designed to help 10th graders build rigorous high school course plans and identify areas of academic need so they can stay on track for college and work success. MEASURING STUDENT PROGRESS TOWARD READINESS IMPROVING COURSE RIGOR SUPPORTING SOLUTIONS PLANNING SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT EXPLORE 8th and 9th grade curriculum-based educational and career planning program PLAN 10th grade curriculum-based educational and career planning program The ACT 11th and 12th grade curriculum- based assessment for learning outcomes ENGAGE Middle and high school assessment that measures all factors of academic success QualityCore Research-driven solutions for strengthening curriculum CoreWork Diagnostics Online service to diagnose and improve content and practice areas Core Practice Audit Framework for evaluating current practices PLAN

17.  Grade 10  English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science  Total time for tests: 1 hour and 55 minutes  Needs Assessment  High School Course/Grade Information  UNIACT Interest Inventory  Educational Opportunity Service (EOS) PLAN

18. ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks  Empirically derived  50% chance of achieving a B or higher or about a 75% chance of achieving a C or higher in the corresponding credit-bearing college course TestCollege CoursePLANACT 8th Grade9th Grade EnglishEnglish Composition13141518 MathCollege Algebra17181922 ReadingSocial Sciences15161721 ScienceBiology20 2124 EXPLORE

19. Student Score Report - PLAN Scores Course Plans College Readiness Benchmarks College/Career Plans Needs Assessment Career Interest Inventory Item Analysis

20. What do Your Scores Mean? Composite Score18 Range (1-32) Please Note: State Norms are Not Currently Available in NC; this column will be blank.

21. Estimated ACT Composite Score Range

22. What is a Good ACT Score? Depends on: 1.Where you want to go to school 2.How much scholarship money you need 3.NCAA Requirements  National Composite Average = 21.1  North Carolina Composite Average = 21.9

23. A few North Carolina examples: Middle 50% of 2011 freshman classes: NC State Raleigh23-28 UNC Chapel Hill27-31 East Carolina University20-24 Appalachian State21-26 UNC Wilmington22-26 Source: ACT College Search and for iPhone ® and iPod ® touch http://www.act.org/mobileapps/ http://www.act.org/mobileapps/

24. www.act.org/plan/pdf/HelpStudentsUsePLAN.pdf

25. Use PLAN to Predict Student Success on AP Exams

26. www.careercollegenc.org/pathways-collegetransfer.htm

27. College Readiness

28. Profile for Success

29. www.planstudent.org

30. Student List Report

31. Early Intervention Roster  School-level reports that identify students who qualify under three possible categories: –Early Identification –Coursework Intervention –Need for Assistance  Prioritizes students that need or have requested attention.

32. Early Identification Report

33. Coursework Intervention Report

35. Item Response Summary Report  Describes the item-by-item performance of your examinees.  Determine your students’ academic strengths and weaknesses relative to the skills and knowledge measured by the test items, and address apparent weaknesses at the content area level.

36. Item-Response Summary Report This report provides tables describing the item-by-item performance of your PLAN examinees. Item response results are categorized by: Test (e.g., English) Subscore (e.g., Usage/Mechanics) Content Area (e.g., Punctuation) Provide comparisons to other students taking the same test form.

37. Item-Response Summary for English: Page 1

38. www.act.org/plan/pdf/ItemResponseSummaryGuide.pdf

39. http://media.act.org/documents/PLAN- InterpretiveGuideforReports.pdf

40. Spend some time here!

41. The ACT is designed to assess 11th and 12th graders’ general learning outcomes. The ACT is a curriculum-based educational and career planning tool that assesses mastery of state and college readiness standards. Accepted by all four-year colleges and universities, it is the college entrance test most preferred nationwide. MEASURING STUDENT PROGRESS TOWARD READINESS IMPROVING COURSE RIGOR SUPPORTING SOLUTIONS PLANNING SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT EXPLORE 8th and 9th grade curriculum-based educational and career planning program PLAN 10th grade curriculum-based educational and career planning program The ACT 11th and 12th grade curriculum- based assessment for learning outcomes ENGAGE Middle and high school assessment that measures all factors of academic success QualityCore Research-driven solutions for strengthening curriculum CoreWork Diagnostics Online service to diagnose and improve content and practice areas Core Practice Audit Framework for evaluating current practices The ACT

42. Key Facts about the ACT  Accepted by all four-year colleges and universities in the United States.  The ACT can be a great equalizer for opportunity.  Approved for use in state models for No Child Left Behind and Annual  Yearly Progress accountability.  Enables school and district leaders to track student performance with aggregate and standards-based reporting for past high school classes.  Used by many states as an instructional improvement program statewide to improve the college and career readiness of their students.  Raises college awareness and exposure among all students, rather than just self-selected, college-bound students, when used statewide.  Provides user-friendly information about how ACT’s tests align with state standards with the State Standards Match Reports.

43.  Total time for tests: 2 hours and 55 minutes  English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science  Optional Writing Test (30 minutes)  Needs Assessment  High School Course/Grade Information  UNIACT Interest Inventory  Educational Opportunity Service (EOS) The ACT

44. Curriculum-Based Assessments

48.  Direct link between what students have learned and what they are ready to learn next.  Suggested learning experiences provide links between the Standards in one score range and those in the next (higher) score range.  Ideas for progressing to the next score range demonstrate ways that information learned from standardized test results can be used to inform classroom instruction. http://www.act.org/standard/

49. College Readiness Standards Score Range Basic Operations & Applications Probability, Statistics, & Data Analysis Numbers: Concepts & Properties 13-15 Standards  Perform one-operation computation with whole numbers and decimals  Solve problems in one or two steps using whole numbers  Perform common conversions (e.g., inches to feet or hours to minutes)  Calculate the average of a list of positive whole numbers  Perform a single computation using information from a table or chart Recognize equivalent fractions and fractions in lowest terms Ideas for Progress  Investigate and build understanding of the concept of percentage as a comparison of a part to a whole  use multiple operations to solve multistep arithmetic problems  solve real-world problems that involve measures of central tendency (e.g., mean, median, mode)  interpret data from a variety of displays (e.g., box-and-whisker plot) and use it along with additional information to solve real-world problems  conduct simple probability experiments and represent results using different formats  recognize and apply place value, rounding, and elementary number theory concepts Mathematics And statements that provide suggestions to progress to a higher level of achievement Statements that describe what students are likely to know and be able to do...

50. http://www.actstudent.org/qotd/

51. Resources for Educators www.act.org/plan/downloads.html www.act.org/plan/downloads.html

52. ACT Mobile: There’s an App for… http://www.act.org/mobileapps/

53. There’s an App for that… …and That!