Deciphering Clients' ACT® Score Reports: What the Numbers Really Say
Recently, we covered the steps that both students and tutors need to take once test day is over. In that article, we touched on the importance of reviewing score reports with your clients. For tutors, the score report is not only imperative in analyzing the student’s performance, but in determining the student’s academic strengths and weaknesses.
This information is crucial in helping students decide whether or not to retest. For students, going over their score report and assessing how they performed on test day is a pivotal step in deciding whether or not they should submit the score they’ve received or start preparing for a retest. Should they choose to try again, the score report serves as the ideal guide in creating their new test-prep plan.
How to interpret SAT® scores has been a subject we’ve outlined in the past, and our post on how to review and understand SAT® scores remains a valuable reference for tutors and test-prep professionals. In this post, we’ll provide you with a corresponding reference for how to make sense of ACT® scores and help you answer relevant questions that your clients might have.
How and when can students view their ACT® scores?
ACT® scores are posted and viewed exclusively through the student’s MyACT® account; they cannot be accessed through phone, email, chat, or fax.
The multiple-choice and writing sections are issued separate scores, both posted at different times. The score for the multiple-choice section is typically posted about 2 weeks after the test date; however, it can take up to 8 weeks. The score for the writing section is usually posted about 2 weeks from the date the multiple-choice score is issued.
For more information on the ACT’s® score reporting dates, click here to view ACT’s® current reporting time frames as well as the delivery timelines for the student, high school, and college reports.
Once students log into their MyACT® account, they can choose to view their score, submit scores to selected recipients, and even print an unofficial copy of their ACT® test score. While this self-printed version won’t hold up as part of a college application, it’s the document you want to use as the foundation for your test-prep tutoring efforts.
What did your clients get on the ACT®?
Making sense of their score can be a daunting task for students. Score reports are more than just numbers; they can supply a lot of vital information when properly analyzed. Students and tutors should plan in advance to meet to review the score report. Getting this date on the books and including it as part of your test-prep services means that tutors can help their clients navigate their scores, provide necessary explanations, and help students decide what they would like to do with their earned scores.
Below, we’ve broken down what the issued scores mean and how to decipher them.
Understanding Composite, STEM, and ELA Scores
Composite Scores can be found in the far left column on the score report. To calculate the composite scores, the total number of correct answers from each of the four tests (English, Math, Reading, and Science) are added up to make “raw scores.” (Remember: points are not deducted for incorrect answers, there’s no penalty for guessing). Those raw scores are then converted to “scale scores,” which range from 1 (low) to 36 (high) for each of the four tests. Those scale scores are then added up and averaged (rounded to the nearest whole number) to create the final composite score.
STEM Scores are found in the middle column on the score report. The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) score reflects the student’s comprehension on the ACT’s® science and math tests. The STEM score is calculated by averaging the science and math section scores.
ELA Scores are found in the far right column on the score report. The ELA (English Language Arts) score reflects the student’s combined efforts on the ACT’s® English, reading, and writing tests. The ELA score is calculated by averaging the scores of the aforementioned sections (or simply the English and reading sections if the student did not elect to take the optional writing test). However, since the writing section is scored on a 2-12 scale, rather than the 1-36 scale used on the English and Reading sections, there is some behind-the-scenes conversion taking place to factor in the writing test performance.
NOTE: ACT® also provides an automatically calculated ACT Superscore® for students who have taken the ACT® more than once.
The Relation Between Tests, Questions, and Reporting Categories
Each test on the ACT® has a number of reporting categories (i.e., 3 categories for English, Reading, and Science and 8 categories for Math). These categories are used to give a clearer picture of how the student performed in each subject area.
As a tutor, you can use these more specific data points to identify specific academic strengths and weaknesses for your clients, and decide which areas are most ripe for improvement with future practice.
ACT® reports their question breakdowns as follows:
English: 75 questions
Production of Writing (29-32%)
Knowledge of Language (13-19%)
Conventions of Standard English (51-56%)
Math: 60 questions
Preparing for Higher Math (57-60%)
Number & Quantity (7-10%)
Algebra (12-15%)
Functions (12-15%)
Geometry (12-15%)
Statistics & Probability (8-12%)
Integrating Essential Skills (40-43%)
Modeling
Reading: 40 questions
Key Ideas and Details (55-60%)
Craft and Structure (25-30%)
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (13-18%)
Understanding Complex Texts (Below, Proficient, or Above)
Science: 40 questions
Interpretation of Data (45-55%)
Scientific Investigation (20-30%)
Evaluation of Models, Inferences, and Experimental Results (25-35%)
For more detailed information on how to interpret the scores given for each reporting category, click here.
Scoring for the Writing Test
The student’s essay is first scored by two different raters on a scale of 1 to 6 in each of the four writing domains:
Ideas and Analysis
Development and Support
Organization
Language Use
Those domain scores (ranging from 2 to 12) are the sum of the two scores given by each of the raters. The writing score, therefore, is the average of those four domain scores (rounded to the nearest whole number).
For more information on scoring for the writing test, as well as the ACT’s® scoring rubric, click here.
ACT® College Readiness Benchmark and Range
The ACT® College Readiness Benchmarks are used as standards to identify the minimum test scores needed for a student to be considered successful in common first-year college courses (e.g., English Composition, College Algebra, Introductory to Science, and Biology courses).
Each subject-area test on the ACT® has a benchmark for students to compare their own performance to the established benchmark for college readiness. On the score report, there is a benchmark indicator for each of the four tests (Math, Science, English, and Reading) plus STEM and ELA scores. The benchmark indicator is shown on each section of the score report as a purple line with a number in a circle.
A score that is at or above the indicated benchmark signifies a chance of at least 50% of achieving a B or higher or at least a 75%-85% chance of achieving a C or higher in those subject-specific first-year college courses.
The ACT® Readiness Range indicates what the score of a student who has achieved the ACT® College Readiness Benchmark would be. On the score report, in the section labeled “Detailed Results,” there is a purple bracket above the scale of each section of each test to indicate the acceptable ACT® College Readiness Range. For scores that fall into this acceptable range, there is a purple check mark.
Note: There is no College Readiness Benchmark or Range for the writing section.
How do my students’ ACT® scores compare?
Getting caught up in ranks and percentages can be overwhelming and sometimes even discouraging for students. In examining their performance and comparing their scores to others’, it’s important to help them to keep their own rankings and scores in perspective.
National Rank
The ranks and percentages on the ACT® score report serve to provide students with a gauge of how they performed compared to other students nationwide. A student’s national rank lets them know how their scores correlate to scores received by other recent high school ACT® test-takers and graduates. The ACT® score report displays both the US and State Rank, giving students both a micro and macro scope to compare their scores to.
These can be useful metrics to see how your clients stack up against other test-takers, but they provide little in the way of actionable data for tutors beyond helping to determine the potential value of a retest.
ACT®/SAT® Concordance
If you and your client are looking to make a comparison between an ACT® and SAT® score, ACT® and the College Board complete and post concordance studies in order to properly compare one exam to the other. Since the composition of the ACT® is not identical to that of the SAT®, these concordance studies result in concordance tables that can be used as ciphers for students and educators to find corresponding scores.
For more information on ACT® and SAT® concordance or to find the most current concordance table, click here.
Use ACT® Score Reports as a Way to Grow Your Personalized Test-Prep Offerings
At this point, it’s important to mention that, just like the SAT®, every point gained on the ACT® matters. One point gained is significant; it could be the difference between a student getting accepted, offered scholarships, or granted financial aid and a student being rejected or left having to accumulate significant student loans.
Just as it is important for tutors to understand how to best utilize the data provided by ACT® score reports, it is also critical to be able to share this knowledge with clients. Beyond follow-up sessions focused on interpreting actual ACT® test scores, you can add an extra layer to your test-prep offerings by including score reports with your practice ACT® test sessions. Being able to offer custom-branded score reports as part of your practice ACT® tests is a great way to show your dedication to authentic, personalized, and data-driven test prep.
What’s more, custom-branded score reports are valuable marketing tools - when you offer free ACT® practice tests, the score report is your most powerful form of outreach as it tees up your first follow-up conversation with a prospective client. It can also be the launching point for a productive first test-prep tutoring session.
Download a Sample Custom-Branded ACT® Score Report and see for yourself how Clear Choice’s custom-branded test-prep tools can help you take your tutoring business to the next level.