By Joyce Rankin
Special to The SUN
On Dec. 23, Colorado high school juniors, along with the State Board of Education, learned that the test juniors regularly take in the spring, the ACT (American College Test) would be changed to the SAT.
Juniors scheduled to take the test in three months have been prepping for the ACT during the past year. The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) made the announcement just before Christmas break and many learned of the change when school began again in January.
The ACT test has been in place since 2001 and provided parents, educators and taxpayers an indicator of how students compare and indicated trends in education.
At a time when school districts are feeling the changes in assessments with PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career), READ (Reading to Ensure Academic Development) Act Literacy Assessment and CMAS (Colorado Measures of Academic Success) Science and Social Studies, the only longitudinal data consistency within our state has been the ACT test. The ACT is a high stakes, summative, test that is taken seriously by students and is used to determine college entrance and scholarships.
The reason for the test change is House Bill 15-1323, passed at the 11th hour in last year’s legislative session. The specific portion of the bill that applies to the test is:
The full version of this story is available in the print edition and e-edition of the Pagosa Springs SUN. Subscribe today by calling (970)264-2100 or click here.
