ACT CONTRIBUTOR OR DISRUPTOR IN HIGHER EDUCATION.docx
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ACT CONTRIBUTOR OR DISRUPTOR IN HIGHER EDUCATION.docx
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ACTCONTRIBUTORORDISRUPTORINHIGHEREDUCATION
ACTCONTRIBUTORORDISRUPTORINHIGHEREDUCATION
中图分类号:
H319文献标识码:
A文章编号:
1672-1578(2015)07-0002-03
AmericanCollegeTest,abbreviatedasACT,isrecognizedbymostcollegesanduniversitiesinAmericaasarequirementofadmission.ManyselectivecollegesanduniversitieshavehighrequirementsforACTscoreandsomeevenuseitasoneoftherequirementstoevaluatetheapplicationofscholarships.Americanfamiliesalsovaluethistestbyspendingabout$530millionannuallyintestpreparationandtutoringservices(Marte,2011).Itdoesnotincludetheregistrationfee$35.
GeneralintroductionofACT
Thistestisprovidedsixtoseventimesinoneyear,whichconsistsoffourindependentsubjecttests:
English,Mathematics,Reading,andscience.(Italsooffersanoptionalwritingpartwhichstudentstakeattheendofthetest)Itrequiredthestudentstofinishallthefourtestsin205minutes.Eachtesthas1astheminimumscoreand36asthemaximumscore.Moreover,acompositescoreisprovidedbasedontheaverageofthefourtestsroundedtothenearestwholenumber.Intermsoftestquestions,itispredominantlymadeupofmultiplequestions.UnlikeSAT,ACTdoesnotpenalizestudents'scoresforwronganswerstodiscouragerandomguessing.
Thestudentswhowanttoapplyforthecollegesanduniversitiesusuallytakethetestsinthespringoftheirjunioryearorinthefalloftheirsenioryearsothattheycanobtainthereporttimely.Iftheyarenotsatisfiedwiththeirscores,theycantakethetestsseveraltimesuntilthetimetheyfeelthatthescoretheygainissatisfactory.Collegesanduniversitiestypicallytendtousethehighestscoreamongtheseveraltestsfortheevaluationofthestudents'admission.
BriefHistoryofACT
TheACTisdesignedasanachievementtestmainlybyEverettLindquistandTedMcCarreltohighlightthetalentswhoareacademicallycompetentinthestatein1959,whichgrewoutofahighschoolcompetitioninIowa.AccordingthethefoundersofACT,therearetwopurposescombinedinthistest.Thefirstistoestablishacommonadmissiontestthatcanberecognizednationallyasasignificantofthestudents'readinessforthecollege,whichisintendedtomeasuretheirknowledgeofthecurriculum.Thenextpurposeisaboutinformingstudentsaboutwhichcollegetoapplyandwhichprogramtostudyviaaskingaboutthestudents'interest.Atthesametime,thiscanhelpcollegesanduniversitieshaveabasicunderstandingoftheirprospectivestudents'academiccompetence. Asexpected,ACT,togetherwithSAT,hasbecomeacceptedasavitalelementoftheadmissionprocessbymostofthefour-yearinstitutionsofAmericanhighereducation.UnlikeSATwhichgainspopularityintheNortheastandontheWestcoast,ACThasadominantroleinthecollegesanduniversitiesoftheMidwestandSouth.AsreleasedbyACTin2011,thereare1.62milliontookthetestwhowanttocontinuetheirstudyinhighereducation.Thesecondpurposecanhelpcollegesanduniversitiesknowwhethertheyarepopularamongtheprospectivestudentsandwhatprogramstheydesiresothatsomeadjustmentscanbemadetoimprovetheirimages.
ScoresofACTandPercentofcollege-readinessfrom2011-2014
From2001to2014,thereisagradualincreaseinpercentofstudentswhotookACTasillustratedbyTable1.In2011,therewas49%ofthehighschoolgraduatestookpartinthistest,whichmeansabout322,000highschoolgraduates.In2014,thepercentroseto57%,whichis8%increase.ItindicatesthatthereisagrowingpopularityofACTamonghighschoolstudentsandAmericanfamilies.
Table1PercentofhighschoolgraduatestookACT
InTable2,itcanbeidentifiedthattherearesomevariationsofACTscorefrom2011to2014nationally.TheaveragescoreofEnglishof2011isthehighest,itstartedtodropfrom2012to2012,thoughthereisa0.1regainin2014.Intermsofreading,itisalmostthesameinthefouryears,exceptin2013itdropped21.1.AsforMathematicsandscience,thereisadecreasebothfrom2013.Thecompositescore,itremainedthesamein2011and2012,droppedto20.7in2013,andregainedto20.8in2014.
FromTable2,thepercentofcollegereadinessrevealsthatthereisabigdecreaseinreadingtestfrom52%to44%.Atthesametime,thereisanincreaseinScience,from20.9%in2011to37%in2014.Holistically,thepercentofcollege-readinessinMathematicsandScienceislowerthanthatinEnglishandReading,whichrequirescollegesanduniversitiestopaymoreattentiontothecultivationofMathematicsandScience.ThishasbeenwidelyfoundandrecognizedinSTEMeducation.
Table3providesadetailedpictureofACTinMississippi.Comparatively,theaveragescoreofEnglish,Reading,Mathematics,andScienceisfarbelowthatnationalaveragescore,whichresultsthelowcompositescore.InEnglish,thereisanincreaseof0.2from2014,remainingas18.8in2014.Intermsofreading,thereisagradualincreasestartingfrom18.8in2011to19.4in2014.ThereislessvariationinMathematicsfrom2012as18.3.ThoughcomparedwithnationalaveragescoreinScience,Mississippistilllaggedbehind,itcannotbedeniedthatthereisanincreasefrom18.7in2011,to18.9in2014.Onthewhole,thecompositescoreroseto19in2014. Intheaspectofcollege-readiness,thepercentremainssteadyinEnglish,ReadingandMathematicsfrom2011-2014,whileinSciencethereisanincrease,itroseto21%in2014.ItrevealsthatMississippiStatemayhaveimprovedinScienceinrecentyears.Researchersinhigheducationcantakethisintoaccounttodiscernthecontributingfactorsandatthesametimefindwaystoimproveallthefourtests.Atthesametime,inordertoprepareMississippistudentstocompeteinthenationaltalentmarketandeveninternationaltalentmarket,collegesanduniversitiesneedtofaceandaddressthedeficiency.
WhatACThascontributedtoAmericanhighereducation?
ACTcanberegardedastheassessmentofhighschoolgraduatesindependentlytodeterminewhetherthetesttakerisreadforcollegelife.Itismoreacademically-oriented,thusitiswidelyusedbycollegesanduniversitiesforadmission.Itisalsomorecognitiveability-oriented,thereforeitisoftenusedbysomeorganizationsorcollegesanduniversitiestodeterminethecandidates'IQ.
Admission
Foradmissionofficersofcollegesanduniversities,theprimarytaskistoknowhowtoidentifywhethertheapplicantswillsucceedintheirstudies.Thisisbeneficialnotonlytoinstitutionsbutalsotothestudentsthemselves,becauseacademicfailurewillmakethemsuffermorethannotbeingadmitted.Evans(2013)claimedthattherefourcriteriaforadmission:
havingexceptionalacademicachievement,havingdiversebackground,beingofgreatcontributiontothesociety,andbeingstronglyloyaltotheinstitution.AlthoughACTisonlyoneofthefourcomponents,itcanensurethattheapplicantsmeetthefirstandimpressiverequirementofbeingabletosucceedatthedesiredinstitution.
TheinterviewedofficersdeclaredthatACTcanprovideacommonmetriconwhichtoassessstudentswithdifferentbackgroundsandhighschoolpreparation.WithoutsuchstandardtestlikeACT,itisextremelydifficultforcollegesanduniversitiestojudgethequalityofahighschoolcurriculumonlybytheirtranscripts.While,ACTscorecanworkasawaytoputallthestudentsonthesamescale.Inthisaspect,itcanhelpthestudentswhoareunderachieversinhighschoolhavethepromisingpotentialtosucceedincollegesstudies.What'smore,ACTcanbeemployedasanindicatorforhowwellstudentswilldointheircomingcollegelives.TheybelievethathighachievecansucceedintermsofsatisfactoryGPAandpersistingfromyeartoyear.ThisviewpointissupportedbyKane(2006),hestatedthatthereisanoverlapbetweentestperformanceandtheircollegeoutcomeslikeGPAandretention.Similarly,NobleandSawyer(2002)identifiedintheirstudiesthatcompositescoreisusuallymoreaccurateatpredictingGPAofcollegestudy.However,EvansclaimedclaimedthatonlythescoresofEnglishandMathematicscanbeusedaspredicatorofGPAandretention,insteadofthescoresofallthesubjects. Cognitiveability
ManyresearchersfoundthattherearepsychometricsimilaritiesbetweenthemeasuresofacademicachievementandtheassessmentofIQbecausemanyIQtestsincludesubitems,likevocabulary,thataredependentontheknowledgethestudentshavebeenexposed.Coyle(2006)determinedthattherawscoresofACTaresignificantlypredicativeoftheassessmentofcognitiveability.Meanwhile,BaadeandSchoenberg(2004)madeameta-analysisoftherelationshipbetweenachievementtestandscoresonIQtestsandproposedthatthereisahighcorrelationbetweenthem.
Thiscorrelationisinstrumentalforresearchersinhighereducation.Tosomeextent,ACTcanfunctionasavaluabletoolforresearcherstoobtainanestimationofIQespeciallywhenhavingthetraditionalIQtestsisimpracticalandimpossibleforthem.ThefactisthatACTscoreshavebeenemployedasareplacementofIQtestsandwillcontinuetobeusedinthisway.
Disruptorinhighereducation
ThoughACThascontributedmuch,italsohasproducedsomedisruptionsinhighereducation.SomeresearchersdoubtedACT'sroleinreadinessassessmentanditmayinvolveracialbias.
Collegereadiness
College-readinessbenchmarkssetupbyACTareusedtopredictwhetherastudenthas50%chanceofearningatleastaBorastudenthas75%chanceofearningatleastaCinhisorherfirst-yearcollegestudy.However,Heller(20
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