ACT in the News

ACT programs and services attract attention across the nation and beyond, as evidenced by this selection of highlights from recent news stories.

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Grand Rapids (Michigan) Press, June 12, 2008
Four area students perfect on ACT: Four Grand Rapids-area students scored a perfect 36 on the ACT test and two students offer advice to future test takers. Brianne Docter (Unity Christian) and Jim Scott (Rockford) prepared for the test in different ways and both took the test more than once. Doctor, 17, prepared by taking the ACT test three previous times. She scored a 22 in seventh grade, a 27 in eighth grade and a 35 in February. Docter has a 3.9 GPA, plays flute in the band and wants to study physical science at a local Christian college. She offers this advice to other students, "take it more than once. . . . It's helpful to know what it's like when you take it again."; Scott also had taken the ACT before, in seventh grade. And he studied from an ACT practice book for the few weeks before the test. "I was kind of surprised because, normally, I don't do so well on the English parts," said Scott, 17, who has a 4.4 GPA and plays tuba in the marching band. His advice for high school juniors: "Don't really freak out about (taking the ACT). It's not a really tricky test."
The Advocate (Baton Rouge, Louisiana), June 8, 2008
14-year-old starts college: Fourteen-year-old Polite (pronounced poh-leet) Stewart Jr. is beginning his first semester this summer at Southern University, weeks before most people his age have even entered high school. Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is a historical black college and says that Stewart is the youngest student to enroll full time.

Stewart stands about 5 feet 9 inches tall and he's already growing a little facial hair, maybe to fit in better at college. He speaks more eloquently than most people 10 years his senior. But it was just a couple years ago when he realized he was so much more advanced academically than others his age. His parents, both of whom were East Baton Rouge middle school teachers and Southern graduates, knew Stewart was intellectually advanced early on. By age 13, Stewart had scored a high-achieving 30 out of 36 on the ACT and was a National Achievement Finalist.

Now, he is a biology major who eventually plans to go to medical school to become a surgeon.

Photo credit: John Oubre, Southern University Office of Publications

School Library Journal (New York), June 1, 2008
Study: Boy crisis in schools untrue: A recent new study says the so-called "boys crisis" in education is, well, bunk. This report is being called the most comprehensive analysis to date of gender-based educational achievement. "Where the Girls Are: The Facts About Gender Equity in Education" analyzed data from all 50 states. In those states where girls do well on standardized tests, so do boys, the report found. Sadly, the opposite also was found to be true: where girls do poorly, so, again, do boys.; For both sexes, across the board, standardized test performance in elementary and secondary schools has improved or remained stable, the study also found. And both men and women are more likely to take college entrance exams such as the ACT and SAT—and to graduate—than ever before.; Further, older and nontraditional female college students may outnumber male counterparts in earning college degrees, but this gender gap is almost absent among young people entering college directly from high school, the report says.; Income seems to be more influential than gender, the report finds. Those from the poorest families have the lowest average standardized test scores; and a rise in family income is associated with a rise in test scores. Educational-achievement differences further vary according to race, ethnicity, and family income. Girls often outperform boys within racial or ethnic groups on the National Assessment of Educational Progress reading test, for example.
Batesville (Arkansas) Daily Guard, May 20, 2008
Career Readiness Certificate distinguishes trained job seekers: Improving the existing workforce should help attract new business and industry interested in locating in Arkansas. Now there is a new tool to help employers find employees with the skills they need, who are "workplace ready." A group of representatives from several groups came together recently to announce the first company in Independence County to partner with the other agencies, recognizing the Career Readiness Certificate in place of its own testing.; Stacy Gunderman, human resources director at FutureFuel Chemical Company, said they have been doing pre-employment testing since the 1980s because FutureFuel requires applicants to take its test or the Career Readiness assessment for those looking for permanent work. Gunderman said FutureFuel's goal is to eventually use just the Career Readiness rather than provide its own testing.

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