ACT Retesting Options
Every year the junior class are required to take the ACT. For many of those juniors a minimum ACT score is needed for them to attend a specific university, or to receive scholarships. Often, because of this, many juniors have to retake the ACT in order to receive their necessary score. In years past when retaking the ACT, students have had to retake every section. This included reading, math, science, English and writing. According to act.org, ‘Beginning in fall 2020, there will be no limit on the number of times someone can retake a section—or multiple sections—of the ACT test.”
Dean of Students Rachel Bachmeier, believes the ACT has made this change in order to catch up with student needs. This required them to recognize a change in what colleges are looking for in students. “I think the ACT is recognizing that times are changing, colleges are looking more at the whole student rather than just the ACT scores,” Bachmeier said, “And this is an opportunity for them to continue to have students want to take their test, and probably give more money to ACT in the long run.”
The ACT has made the decision to allow students to retake sections of the test in order to keep the best interests of the student in mind. They have begun to listen to students’ feedback and are changing to accommodate their concerns. According to act.org, “Our extensive research confirms that section retesting gives students the opportunity to showcase their skills and accomplishments gained over a lifetime, not just their test-taking abilities on one particular day.”
Senior, Jordan Bruer, thinks the changes in the ACT testing are due to the rising stress in study for and retaking the full test. “I think that the point of this change was to reduce stress on students by not making them retake the entire exam and potentially help their score considering they might have done bad on only one section and this allows them to improve just that one section.
All together, this recent change to the ACT could be very beneficial to the students who take it. Scores could go up due to reduced stress in the students, which all together can lead them into a greater and brighter future. Only time will tell if this change makes a difference in students’ ACT tests. Whether it helps students in the long run or not, it could be a necessary leap into improving students’ futures.
Your donation will support the student journalists of West Fargo High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.
