ACT Research

Advancing insight and fostering innovative and collaborative research that transforms education and workplace success and influences policy and practice.

Research in the News

Find out more about ACT research and how it is connecting assessment and learning to College and Career readiness.

ACT Researchers Showcase Cutting-Edge Work at Premier Industry Conferences

ACT
 May 1, 2025
Categories: ACT Enhancements, ACT Test, Research
Some of ACT’s top researchers recently presented findings on using AI to detect alerting essay content, predicting student college degree completion, and student perception and performance of the enhanced ACT test at the National Council on Measurement in Education and the American Educational Research Association conferences. O

ACT Appoints Alex Thome as Chief Product Officer

ACT
 April 30, 2025
Categories: Industry News, Press Release
IOWA CITY, Iowa – ACT announced today that it has appointed Alex Thome as the company’s chief product officer, a strategic leadership role focused on advancing product innovation, customer experience, and market expansion. Thome will head product strategy to further innovate ACT’s portfolio of education and workforce assessments

'I Am My Own Motivation'

ACT
 April 29, 2025
Categories: ACT Center for Impact and Learning, ACT Scholar, Guest Blog
 ACT established the ACT Scholars program to nurture the academic talent of graduate and community college students at the University of Iowa and Kirkwood Community College, respectively. These institutions share ACT’s commitment to helping all learners achieve their college and career goals. Each ACT Scholar’s story reflects

Research Publications

ACT research guides thought leadership and drives solutions that help individuals achieve education and workplace success.

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Services and Resources

In addition to publishing high-quality, research-based insights, ACT Research offers a suite of services designed to provide educators and workforce development professionals with tools, data, and services needed to make strategic education and career planning, assessment, and learning decisions.

Our Featured Experts

Alex Casillas

Alex Casillas is a Principal Research Psychologist in ACT’s Center for Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning specializing in assessment design, behavioral predictors of performance and persistence in education and work settings, and implementation of SEL programming. His research increasingly focuses on helping historically underrepresented populations achieve more equitable outcomes in education and at work.

Chi-Yu Huang

Chi-Yu Huang is a lead psychometrician in Applied Research at ACT, Inc. She has extensive experience in operational psychometric procedures for licensure and certification examinations, computerized-based testing, and data forensics analyses.

Xin Li

Xin Li is a lead psychometrician in Research and Psychometrics. Her research interests include computer adaptive testing, statistical modeling, and practical issues in testing.

Patricia Muenzen

Patricia (Pat) Muenzen is a Director with the Credentialing and Career Services team. She conducts research to support professional workforce career development, professional licensure and certification programs, and has special expertise in practice analysis and competency profile development. 

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