State now paying for students to take a test
It’s testing season in Ohio, and this spring is the first in which school districts statewide are required to give the ACT or SAT to all 11th-graders, college-bound or not.
Unlike before, the SAT or ACT is given during the school day. No need for teenagers to haul themselves out of bed early on a Saturday morning. And students don’t have to pay the $45 for the SAT or the $42.50 for the ACT; the state is picking
up the $5.25 million tab for each student to take one of the tests once. (If kids decide to take the optional writing section, the state won’t pay for that.)
The change, which became state law in 2014, seems popular among local school administrators.
“I’ve always thought it’s a great idea to provide all students a chance to take the ACT at no cost,” said Jack Fette, chief academic officer for Olentangy schools near Powell. “Taking a placement exam and sending scores to a college are an important first step towards college admission, so I like that the state will be ensuring that every student will have that opportunity.”
There’s concern among school officials across the state that too many 11th-graders aren’t earning enough points from their endof-course exams to receive a diploma next year. The ACT or SAT exam takes on new importance as another route to a diploma.
About 95 percent of Ohio districts have chosen the ACT over the SAT, according to the state Department of Education. The ACT is the overwhelming preference of college-bound kids these days.
Columbus, SouthWestern and Dublin schools are administering the ACT on March 21. Many of the other districts, including Hilliard, Olentangy and Westerville, are giving it on April 19.
Many students locally already take one or the other of the exams, and some take both, depending on the requirements of the college they hope to attend.
“Recognizing that students’ scores increase each time they take the test, we also have been trying to get students to take the ACT as early (and as frequently) as possible,” GroveportMadison schools spokesman Jeff Warner said in an email.
In 2014 and 2015, an average of 66 percent of students in local districts took the ACT and 19 percent took the SAT, according to the Ohio Department of Education. New Albany-Plain schools had the highest participation rate, with 87.9 percent of students taking the ACT and 53.7 percent taking the SAT. The lowest was at South-Western schools, with 35 percent taking the ACT and 1.5 percent taking the SAT.
This school year, the rate for every district should be close to 100 percent. Students who are developmentally disabled or who have limited English skills because they’ve been in the country for less than two years may opt out.
Dublin schools will be telling parents of students with limited English that they can opt out, but it won’t exclude them if they wish to take the ACT, said Chief Academic Officer Kimberly Pietsch Miller.
Earning what’s known as a “remediation-free score” on the SAT or ACT is now one of three routes to a high-school diploma in Ohio. To be considered ready for college, without any need for remedial classes, students taking the ACT have to earn at least an 18 on the English portion, 22 in mathematics and 21 in reading. For the SAT, the cut off is at least 430 in writing, 450 in reading and 520 in mathematics.
The state Department of Education posted free test-preparation materials on its website, and districts are holding prep courses, information nights and workshops and offering other help in preparing for the tests.
“Any kind of practice is good,” said Bexley schools spokeswoman Amy Thompson. “It’s kind of a pain to have to take the hours out of instruction time to administer it, but what’s one more (test)?”