The October ACT scores will start to be released tomorrow. For most sittings, it takes 10-14 days. According to ACT, these test results are taking longer to report “due to equating. Equating procedures ensure that scores reported have a constant meaning across test forms.”
Why would this particular sitting need this “equating” that takes longer? What does that mean?
I always understood equating to have to do with the work that ACT did before the test to decide difficulty and the curve. I always read that curves for both ACT and SAT are not decided after the test is taken. Is that wrong in this case? If not, what does ACT mean by their explanation?
My guess is that while the ACT always ‘equates’ - once per year the ACT is doing deeper statistical validation perhaps checking across geography and demographics more thoroughly than they do ‘normally’. This could be a way to mitigate legal exposure to potential claims of discrimination, or it could be simply ‘good housekeeping’ where they want to perform more analysis at least once per year using a broader set of statisticians and tools.
@AnotherCaDad I was also thinking it might be because they gave more brand new tests than usual and need to make sure the equating they did prior to the test date makes sense now that they have real information about how kids did on these tests.
How could they equate a test with no results? How do you tell how hard a test is that no one has taken?
That’s the entire point of equating - while test takers aim to make all tests of equal difficulty, only after they are given can they tell how closely they achieved that goal. They then adjust the scoring tables to account for the variance. That’s equating.
It’s also why talk of getting a low score due to “a hard curve” or “unfair curve” are nonsense.
This equating could take longer than normal because the variance is large, the number of students who have taken previous tests is small, some data is inconsistent, etc.
No. That’s not true. The equating is done before the test is given. It’s developed and then ACT knows how hard it is compared to other ACTs. It’s not curved afterwards like a test in school could be. THAT’S why I was curious why this test takes a little longer and why ACT is saying they are equating this October test. I think @AnotherCaDad is correct that, once a year, ACT has to fine tune with a test sitting date and make sure they are still on track that all tests have fair raw score to real score conversions.
This is making me nervous - do you think scores could be lower than normal? S was doing very well on his practice exams and we were hoping for a nice increase. We are also hoping he gets them tomorrow - he checked tonight and it said scores will be released between 11/12 and 12/30. He applied to several schools EA and rolling and just wants these scores sent asap to the schools.
@homerdog Hmmm, not sure. When he checked earlier tonight, it just showed the two testing dates (he took one last year). But there were no scores yet for the October date; it just said scores will be released tomorrow through end of Dec. Where would the “registered” and “tested” be located?
My understanding is there were numerous test sites that had to be rescheduled due to the California fires and Chicago Public school strikes, with those test sites not rescheduled until this past Saturday. Basically, everyone had to take the test before they could post the results.
@taverngirl next to the test date it says “registered” or “tested”. For lots of kids, it changed to tested earlier today. I guess, in the past, that has meant scores are loaded.
I believe the October score has always come out later than most of the normal 9/10 day release dates. I believe it was this way a few years ago, and definitely last year.
Son is still waiting for score for Oct 26 test. “registered”. How long does it usually take for rest of scores to post? Are we likely to wait 1-2 days or a couple of weeks?
TavernGirl - Congratulations! No scores for my son yet. Sounds like the next release is Thursday. I noticed you have a U of R logo in your screen name. Did you go there or is that where your son is hoping to go? My daughter is a junior there and absolutely loves everything about the school.
I noticed you have a U of R logo in your screen name. Did you go there or is that where your son is hoping to go? My daughter is a junior there and absolutely loves everything about the school.