State to vote on requiring ACT test

A new accountability model for public schools might mean another standardized test for the high school class of 2014.

The North Carolina State Board of Education will vote in October whether to use the ACT as part of the high-school curriculum to measure how prepared students are for college, said Vanessa Jeter, director of communication and information services for the board.

The state will use money from the N.C. Public School Fund to pay for the administration of the test, Jeter said.

The fund is made up of state taxes, she said.

If the proposed plan passes, juniors will take the test during the school day as part of a curriculum requirement, Jeter said.

High school students in North Carolina are not required to take the ACT or SAT within the current system, she said.

Schools in the UNC system require applicants to submit either SAT scores or ACT plus writing scores, said Barbara Jo Polk, senior associate director for UNC admissions.

The ACT is a curriculum-based test, while the SAT is used to measure students’ critical thinking and reasoning skills.

“Colleges around the country look at ACT and SAT scores as a way to measure how well they think the students will do at their school,” Polk said.

“A 33 on the ACT means the same thing in California as it does in North Carolina.”

Polk said 2,684 students sent in applications with only ACT scores last year. Out of those students, 514 were admitted. Comparable statistics for SAT-only applicants were not immediately available.

“At UNC, if we receive an application with both ACT and SAT scores, we use the score that advantages the student most,” Polk said.

Ed Colby, spokesman for the ACT Testing Center, said one of the benefits of the plan is that every student gets an ACT score that they can use to apply to college free of charge.

“We have gotten a lot of positive feedback from states who have similar plans,” Colby said.

“One of the most positive effects this program has had on students is getting them to at least consider college,” he said.

Some even change their minds about not going to college, he said.

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.