For years, Illinois’ high school juniors took the ACT college entrance exam for free at school, like their brothers and sisters and friends before them.
Many students took ACT precursor tests in junior high and early in high school, or signed up for ACT prep classes after school or during the summer. That would lead to the actual ACT exam, which the state has covered for 11th-graders since 2001 as a way to get kids of all backgrounds on the path to college.
But with school starting within weeks in most parts of the state, districts have no clue if a free ACT exam will be given to juniors in the spring because of uncertainty in Springfield about funding and state testing.
And there’s a significant twist: The ACT may not be the state-paid college entrance test administered, if one is given.
The testing giant’s contract with Illinois expired June 30, and ACT’s archrival, the College Board’s SAT, is preparing to compete for a new pact. This year, the College Board won a similar testing contract in Michigan, making significant inroads into the Midwest, where the ACT has been popular.
If the College Board wins in Illinois, public school juniors long conditioned to take the ACT will suddenly take the SAT — and a new one at that. The SAT has been redesigned and will be given starting in March 2016. Both tests produce scores that can be submitted to colleges and universities, and both can be taken on a national testing date outside of the school day, with students paying unless their fees are waived. It’s not uncommon for students to take both.
Continuing to offer a free college entrance exam takes money, and that remains an issue as lawmakers wrangle with Gov. Bruce Rauner over the state budget. The Illinois State Board of Education still has no assessment dollars for statewide exams in 2015-16, provoking local districts to create a backup plan: Use their own funds to give the ACT to their juniors in spring 2016.
About five dozen districts so far, including some of the largest and most affluent in the state, have signed on with ACT to administer the exam, typically in March or April, at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars. The price of the test ranges from $39.50 to $56.50 per student, depending on whether a writing section is included.
Local administrators and ACT officials have confirmed that districts can cancel those exams if the state board decides to pay for a statewide college entrance test.
“I think in general there is an expectation that this type of test be provided, based on historical precedence,” said Patrick Nolten, who oversees assessment in the sprawling Indian Prairie School District 204 based in Aurora. “There is community interest in using a well-regarded high-stakes test” that can be used for college admissions, Nolten said.
His district would spend at least $100,000 to give the ACT to some 2,300 juniors, Nolten said, though “everyone is sort of crossing their fingers that the state delivers.”
Districts including New Trier 203, Hinsdale 86, Glenbard 87, Maine 207, Evanston 202 and Elmhurst 205 have signed up with ACT or are considering giving the exam in the spring if the state doesn’t pay for it. Chicago Public Schools has not signed on, a district spokesman said.
“One of the things that people care the most about is post-secondary opportunities,” said David Bain, an associate superintendent at Community High School District 117 in north suburban Lake Villa, which has signed on to offer juniors the ACT at district expense. “We still see college entrance exams as being one of the most important assessments for our students and families.”
Beginning in 2001, the ACT became an integral part of required state exams given annually in Illinois. But last year, the State Board of Education bumped the ACT from the roster of required state tests, instead making it optional for districts in 2015. The state agreed to pay for the optional ACT for the 2014-15 school year, while new PARCC exams were launched for third- through eighth-graders and some high school students.
The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers exams test students in math and English language arts and literacy, and is based on Common Core standards that focus on critical thinking and problem-solving.
The exams spurred confusion and rebellion across the state last school year, over everything from the computer format to the lengthy hours of testing that caused hundreds of students to skip the exams. This coming year, PARCC tests will be condensed and take less time, changes that may appease parents who allowed their children to opt out.
Meanwhile, high school administrators have grown increasingly concerned about the exams because, unlike ACT and SAT, PARCC is not used for college admissions.
That pushed the issue of a state-paid college entrance exam into the General Assembly, where Sen. William Delgado, a Chicago Democrat and chairman of the Education Committee, filed legislation to ensure that the state would administer an annual test that could be used for college admissions.
The bill was approved by lawmakers and sent to the governor’s office. A Rauner spokeswoman said the governor has not yet taken action on it.
Of concern to Delgado is that the free college entrance test for juniors was designed to give all kids a chance to go to college even if they never dreamed they’d qualify.
As it stands, students in districts that signed up with ACT will get to take the exam in the spring, while students in other districts won’t unless they schedule and pay for it on their own. That creates inequities if the board of education doesn’t give a statewide college entrance test. “They’re just making the situation worse,” Delgado said.
The ACT has four sections — English, reading, math, and science — with a top composite score of 36. There’s also an optional writing test. The redesigned SAT includes tests in reading, writing and language, and math, with a top score of 1600. There’s an optional essay.
The two testing organizations would be in intense competition for what would be a huge contract — more than 100,000 public school juniors in Illinois have taken the state-paid ACT college entrance exam annually since 2001. In recent years, Illinois has paid more than $100 million to ACT to administer the exam to juniors as well as the ACT precursor tests for younger students, state records show.
In Illinois’ graduating Class of 2014, 158,037 students took the ACT exam — the largest number of test-takers of any state in the nation. That includes public high school juniors in Illinois who took the ACT at school as part of state testing in spring 2013, as well as public and private school sophomores, juniors and seniors who took the exam at various testing sites.
Testing data show 1.8 million students in the Class of 2014 took the ACT in the U.S., with almost every Midwest state showing high percentages of graduates taking the exam.
The College Board reported that 1.67 million students took the SAT, which includes students who are citizens of other countries. In the U.S., SAT attracts a significant number of test-takers in East Coast states as well as California. In Illinois, only 6,468 students in the Class of 2014 took the SAT.
Still, the SAT has name recognition in Illinois, in part because of the PSAT test that can qualify students for merit scholarships. In addition, students and families are familiar with the College Board’s popular AP courses, with scores on AP exams potentially giving students college credit.
The College Board is reviewing Illinois’ request for proposals for a college entrance exam, “And we stand ready to help more Illinois students benefit from all that our redesigned assessments have to offer,” said Cyndie Schmeiser, chief of assessment at the testing organization.
While Illinois districts have long been associated with ACT, some administrators are open to a change.
Jeffrey Smith, director of research and evaluation in Arlington Heights-based Township High School District 214, said the district has signed up to give the ACT to juniors this spring if the state doesn’t come through with funding. But he isn’t ruling out that SAT could win the contract in Illinois, given that the College Board was successful in getting Michigan’s contract.
“We have looked at the SAT, and we’ve talked to them and we’ve been interested,” Smith said.
ACT spokesman Ed Colby said, “We believe that the ACT is the most effective measure of college and career readiness in the industry. Our understanding is that the redesigned SAT will look considerably more like the ACT. We perceive that, in part, to be a testimony to the success of the format and design that the ACT has maintained since it was introduced more than 50 years ago.”
In Elmhurst 205, administrators signed up to give the ACT in the spring, but district spokeswoman Melea Smith said that if there’s a switch to the SAT, students likely will adjust. “I feel like if they are academically prepared, they should be able to take either test. I think the parents might be freaking out more than kids.”
Twitter @diane_rado