Optional essay portion of ACT aimed at testing readiness for college

By Lynn A. Wade

Nevada Daily Mail

The latest thing in college entrance exams is a writing section, and students and parents have many questions about the changes in testing.

Available in both the ACT and SAT college entrance exams, the writing section is a tool colleges may rely upon in the future to help determine whether students are ready for the rigors and specific demands of college coursework -- especially the written components, said Nevada High School counselor Tammy Hendren.

Both SAT and ACT examinations have a new writing component. However, the ACT's is optional and proponents of both tests say students need not be intimidated by the new writing test.

In the SAT Reasoning Test, students have 25 minutes to write on a given subject. It's scored individually, and according to www.collegeboard.com, and in this test the new writing segment is required, but the promoters of this test say it's just different, not necessarily harder; and, they note, scorers will know that an essay written in 25 minutes is just a draft, and it will be scored as such. Other changes were made to improve the SAT as well. According to College-board.com, these changes, for the most part, reflect changes or updates in the common curriculum offered at high schools and colleges.

The ACT also offers a writing component.

Nevada High School counselor Shirley Rainey said most Nevada students take the ACT, because it's the one most widely accepted by colleges in the Midwest.

The ACT's version is an optional 30-minute test students may take in addition to the traditional test, which still covers four core areas. The goal, according the ACT media relations staff, is to "reflect, not change, the current high school curriculum. ACT's goal is not to change the way writing is taught. We aren't trying to set an agenda or send a message."

Little student feedback was available on the writing test, because local students have had little opportunity to take it.

"They just added the new writing component (to the ACT) this spring, so the students have only had the opportunity to take it in February and March. None of my seniors have taken it, so far," Hendren said.

A few of the students counseled by Rainey have taken it, and Rainey said that students seemed undaunted by the test.

"We also did a field test from ACT to sophomores. We had two sessions on that," to familiarize students with the format, Rainey said.

"If you take it, there's an additional cost. Some people might want to take it; but if you do, you can take it several times, to improve your score," Hendren said.

According to ACT officials, about 20 percent of colleges and universities recommend, but don't require, the ACT writing test. About 61 percent have, so far, decided not to require the writing scores, but Hendren thinks that may change in the future.

"In the next few years, I look for colleges and universities to require it for certain degrees," she said.

Some colleges, she noted, may simply be waiting to establish a baseline by evaluating scores generated by the optional test.

The ACT writing test, like the SAT's writing component, is one of many tools available for use by colleges in evaluating prospective students. Most schools recommend students take college entrance exams for the first time during their junior year in high school, leaving plenty of opportunities to take the test again if desired.

The next opportunity to take the ACT is June 11.

This session is not given locally, but it is offered at a variety of sites, depending on the state in which the college the student wishes to send scores to is located. In order to participate in the June 11 test, students must be registered by this Friday.

Rainey said the majority of students now register online at ACT.org.

After June 11, the next opportunity to take the ACT will be Oct. 22.

Nevada High School students will be notified through information provided by the counselors' office of registration deadlines and related information.