While the ACT and SAT are no longer required for the application to several colleges and universities, all juniors are required to take the ACT test as part of their graduation requirements.
In order for students to start becoming familiar with the fundamentals of the ACT, English 11 teacher Amy Lutz is preparing her students for the English and Reading portions.
“I think that all students probably want to do their best on the ACT and realistically, starting into the test, you don’t really know what’s on it,” Lutz said. “Preparing for it will boost confidence, give you some skills, and give us a chance as teachers to go over concepts that we notice students have missed in their education so far.”
Preparing for the ACT alone can be challenging for most students who are unfamiliar with the test. Lutz introduced sample questions in class so students can recognize what areas they need more work on.
“With most of the test being English-based, it is super important to start early and familiarize students with each part,” Lutz said. “In our class we are taking practice tests, doing group test corrections, and eventually we will be doing practice timed writings to get used to both the timing of all the tests and then also to get used to the material. This should be the same in all of students’ English 11 classes with every teacher’s own little tips and tricks added in.”
According to CCSD graduation requirement guidelines, students do not have to attain a certain score in order to graduate, they only have to take the test.
“Juniors this year are right on that bubble of the ACT mattering and not mattering,” Lutz said. “It is still extremely important to take because it is a graduation requirement after all, but it may not be as vital now as it used to be. At this point, a lot of colleges are still looking for high ACT scores as a reason to let you into their college, but are also considering other factors such as grades and extracurriculars. “
While the ACT and SAT are usually regarded as rigorous tests, some students feel self-assured in their ability to do well with what they have learned so far. Students will be taking the SAT on Wednesday giving them time to fully prepare.
“I am actually not too nervous to take the ACT this year,” junior Jacob Bogel said. “The bottom line is that I go in confidently, try my best and hopefully succeed. I’m not going to stress too much about it because I can always take it again next year if I need to. My biggest weakness on the exam will probably be grammar and punctuation-which is luckily what we are focusing on in class. Even though I originally did not consider studying, taking the practice test really showed me the importance of practicing for the certain types of questions that are going to be on the test.”
