State campaign urges teens to retry college entry exam

Thousands of high school juniors in Arkansas are preparing to take the ACT, but state education leaders hope it’s not the only time they take it.

The Arkansas Department of Education recently rolled out a No Limits campaign, which encourages students to take the college entrance exam multiple times in hopes of improving their scores to get scholarships and have more choices for college.

The multiple-choice tests measure knowledge of English, reading, math and science. Students get a score for each section and an overall composite score — the combination of the subject area tests — based on a scale of 1 to 36.

The average composite score of 2017 Arkansas public-school graduates who took the test two or more times was 21.1, compared with 16.5 for graduates who took the test once, according to the Department of Education.

Aubin Payne, a senior at Haas Hall Academy in Fayetteville, took the ACT three times. He scored a 31 the first time he took it in the ninth grade. He received the top score of 36 when he took it last year, he said.

Knowing how to pace yourself and answer questions within the allotted time is the key, Payne said.

“I think most people, if they had enough time, could get every question right, but it’s just working your way through it and having the time to do everything, that’s the big thing,” said Payne, 16. “So taking it multiple times helped in that sense for sure.”

Chance Krawchuk, a Springdale High School senior, also has taken the ACT three times, earning a 33 in his last attempt. He learned a strategy for attacking the math test.

“You shouldn’t go through the questions in order unless you’re just really solid at it,” said Krawchuk, 17. “It’s a matter of knocking out all the easy ones first, and then coming back to the hard ones once you know you have time.”

All Arkansas public-school students can take the ACT once at the state’s expense during the spring of their junior year. Statewide administration of the exam for juniors begins Feb. 27, according to the Arkansas Department of Education.

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