Standardized test firms set new dates, options

LITTLE ROCK — National nonprofit organizations producing college entrance exams and endof-year high school tests for college credit have adjusted those testing programs in light of the covid-19 pandemic closing higher education institutions across the country.

Those adjustments include changes in scheduled test dates and in testing locations, which may now include a student’s home.

The national nonprofit College Board, the maker of the Advanced Placement

exams giving students an opportunity to earn college credit for rigorous high school coursework, has scheduled those tests for May.

The exams will be given from May 11 to May 22 in the homes of students. Each subject’s exam will be taken on the same day at the same time, worldwide.

Students will be able to take the open book/open notes exams on any device they can access — computer, tablet or smartphone. They will be able to type and upload their responses or write responses by hand and submit a photo via their cellphones.

Most exams will have one or two free-response questions, and each question will be timed separately. For most subjects, the exams will be 45 minutes long. In some courses, submitted portfolios of work are required.

Students taking the exams may not consult with any other individuals during the testing period.

The College Board has said it has procedures to prevent and detect cheating, and penalties are in place for those who attempt to take an unfair advantage.

ACT EXAMS

ACT of Iowa City, Iowa,

the publisher of the ACT college entrance exam, announced it’ll offer a flexible schedule for summer’s test dates, as well as test-at-home options for this fall and early winter.

“Our mission compels us to provide as many opportunities as possible for students to take the ACT test, particularly now as other admission information, such as grades, courses, and GPAs, may be missing or partial,” Marten Roorda, ACT chief executive officer, said.

“The insights provided by ACT scores are more important to students and institutions than ever during this critical time, when colleges are forced to make decisions in such a disruptive climate,” Roorda said.

As federal and local guidelines for safety allow, students will have the option to reschedule their tests — without being charged fees — from June 13 to June 20 and from July 18 to July 25. Students may also make free changes from the June to the July national test dates.

In addition to three previously planned national test dates in September, October and December, ACT will offer a remote proctoring option for the ACT test, allowing students to take the tests at home on a computer, the company has said.

ACT will start the test-athome option later this year as part of its national testing program.

The new remote proctoring option builds upon the research and development work supporting the new online ACT test, section retesting and super-scoring enhancements that will be available at national test centers starting in September.

“We are working closely with our partners in higher education and relying on their guidance in the development of this new option to ensure that it will meet their needs for score integrity,” Roorda said. “We’ve been exploring the option of remote proctoring for some time. We are pleased to be able to launch this experience that provides greater access to the test for students but also upholds critical aspects of test security and score validity for colleges and scholarship organizations.”

More details about the remote proctoring option will be available in the coming weeks.

Also, students will have chances to take the ACT this fall on the campuses of participating colleges.

SAT EXAMS

If public health safety allows, the national nonprofit College Board — producer

of the SAT college entrance exam, as well as Advanced Placement tests — will schedule weekend administrations of the SAT every month through the end of the calendar year, beginning in August.

That will include a new test date in September along with the previously scheduled tests Aug. 29, Oct. 3, Nov. 7 and Dec. 5.

To replace canceled SAT School Day test dates in the spring 2020 semester, the College Board will offer the SAT in schools this fall. That’s particularly important for students who take the SAT for free as part of programs sponsored by states and large school districts. Specific information about state and district testing will be shared in the coming weeks.

Should schools not open in the fall, the College Board will provide a digital SAT for home use, assuring the exam is secure, fair and accessible to all, and valid for use in college admissions. At-home SAT testing is new, but digital delivery of the test isn’t, the company said last week.

For national testing, students will be able to register beginning in May. Students who registered for June and those in the high school class of 2021 who don’t have SAT scores will have early access to register for the August, September and October test

dates. The College Board will communicate directly with students when the exact date is available. Eligible students will be able to take the test with a fee waiver.

In the interim, the College Board and the nonprofit Khan Academy are providing free resources online to help students prepare for the tests, including full-length practice tests and personalized learning tools at khanacademy.org/ sat.

“Our commitment to students is to give them as many opportunities as we can to show their strengths to admissions officers, while relying on the guidance of public health officials,” College Board Chief Executive Officer David Coleman said in a prepared statement. “Throughout, we’ll continue to place a special focus on students benefiting from fee waivers and those requiring accommodations.”