Juniors may take ACT in spring after all

The state is working on a deal to keep the status quo for a year.

Colorado 11th-graders might be taking the ACT college placement exam this spring after all.

Last week during the holiday break, the state Department of Education announced that Colorado would switch its mandatory test for high school juniors from the ACT to a new version of the SAT, a product of the College Board. The decision to switch to the SAT shocked many superintendents, educators and others.

In an e-mail Monday evening to school district superintendents, interim Education Commissioner Elliott Asp said the department is working with the two testing providers on a plan that would keep the ACT status quo for one more year.

“I know that this is a high-stakes assessment for students, with college entrance, placement and scholarships on the line,” Asp wrote. “To require this year’s 11th-graders to take the SAT exam this spring — after they have already invested time, money and energy in preparing to take a different assessment — would not be in their best interest.”

Asp didn’t provide a time frame for a final decision. He previously promised that the department would explore “options for flexibility” for this year’s juniors.

Spokeswoman Dana Smith said the department realized “right away” that the timing of the decision so close to exams this spring would pose a challenge to students.

Under the new proposal, every junior would take the ACT this spring, and the SAT would become mandatory for next year’s juniors.

The ACT has been mandatory for Colorado high school juniors since 2001, and the state picks up the tab. The scores are part of the state’s system for holding schools and districts accountable for student performance.

The decision to go with the College Board’s SAT will become official at the end of the procurement process, which Smith said will come Wednesday evening unless the ACT protests. As of Monday, no protest had been filed, she said.