ACT: Issues with Computer-Based Testing

Test Preparation
1

All,

As you may know, computer-based testing for ACT has been rolled out internationally, and it is expected to be rolled out in US soon as well. My son wrote the ACT in India on Feb 9, 2019; here are some observations based on checking with fellow students and college counselors on the ACT scores:

  • There has been a significant decline in scores of students taking scores in India; it seems to cut across cities. Similar issues were observed in the December test as well. Not sure if this applies to other countries where computer-based testing has been administered..
  • There is a mad scramble of students leaving ACT and moving to SAT given the unpredictability of ACT scores. My son now needs to start SAT preparation from scratch; not a happy situation when he thought he should be done with ACT in this round.

What could lead to these problems:

  • Perhaps only the less capable students are taking ACT this year, and the scores reflect their true rating. This scenario is probably NOT likely.
  • Something is fundamentally wrong with the computer-based ACT tests. This is the likely cause, and I will give below some observations.

What is WRONG with computer-based ACT:

  • The Reading section appears to be much harder compared to any practice tests students can find, including the official ACT test guides, online as well as offline
  • The timing appears to be flawed. When a student clicks on “Next”, there is a delay before the question gets loaded, and this could vary from center to center. For the Reading section the timer did not pause during the download. With 75 questions, and possibly some back and forth as students move between passages and questions, they are losing valuable time (estimated to be at least 2 to 3 minutes if not more). What I am hearing from some of the students is that this was not an issue for, say, the Math section where timer did not tick with downloading was happening.

I heard the timer issue from several students who had compared the ACT screen timer with their watch timing.

Questions for the ACT Board:

  • Will the ACT Board look into this issue and ensure this is not repeated the next time around?
  • Will the ACT Board give any kind of compensation to students who ended up with lesser score and hence need to take the test again?

Questions for Others:

  • What else can I do other than writing in this forum to ensure ACT Board will take some action? I am under strict instruction from my son to not raise the issue with ACT.
  • Anybody else who faced such issues, please share your observations.

Thanks!

2

Thanks for sharing! I know my S21 is more comfortable with the traditional paper test so we were planning to stick with SAT. He had to take a baseline concussion test at school using a computer and it did not go well.

3

Writing here will just get information to parents, not the testing agency. Not sure why you wouldn’t bring up concerns with ACT directly.

4

I took the ACT in India in September 2018. The lady who was the supervisor for my room only asked me for my first name, not my last. Later on, I found out she made me sit next to someone with the SAME name as me. Other students also recalled having their seat number written next to their name; I never had anyone ask for my seat number.

After taking the test and feeling pretty confident about the results, I went and got a 26. A month later, I took the SAT and got a 1520.

I don’t know, maybe I am just overreacting, but these small things made me wonder if the lady accidentally switch the scores with the other girl. I mean, a student who gets a 1520 doesn’t correlate with a student who gets a 26 right?

5

My other friend also took the computer ACT with me and her computer shut off halfway through the test. She had to do the whole test again without any additional time. I was shocked that she wasn’t given extra time given the fact that the computer malfunctioned

6

Sure. Let me talk to my son again.

7

Too bad that you ended up with such low ACT scores while SAT was great. If ACT does not fix the issues with computer-based testing, they are going to lose a lot of international business. If these issues repeat in the US, well, I guess they dare not, because the hue and cry will be too great for them to handle. I guess internationals being smaller number, they are getting away with these kinds of screw-ups.