<p>The Prairie State Achievement Examination is on April 23rd and one of its components is the ACT. This exam is only required by high schools in the state of Illinois. I live in Illinois and I was wondering if this ACT is generally easier than the national test dates? I've heard from most seniors that they had got their highest score on this state- ACT. This gives me hope to still increase my score, but I don't want to go easy on it just because people have said it was a little easier. </p>
<p>I recall reading somewhere that ACT does not administer tests that are harder than other tests? </p>
<p>If you live in Illinois or know anything about this, please post.</p>
<p>All ACTs are designed to be the same difficulty - it would be unfair and not standardized if IL students had an advantage. Your friends probably did best on that one because a) it was later on in the year - probably not their first test and b) it doesn’t have the essay which helps with motivation near the end.</p>
<p>I live in IL and think it would be awesome if the PSAE was easier than the other ACTs. I haven’t heard any seniors talk about it in comparison though. Do you know if we can use a writing from another test if we use our PSAE ACT (which doesn’t have writing)?</p>
<p>If I get a higher score on the PSAE act, can I send that into colleges with my writing score (10) I got on a prior ACT test ? Or how would that work?</p>
<p>Here’s my two cents on the matter: it is easier. Most seniors I know had their best score on PSAE day too. ACT is graded on a curve such that most people fall around a 20 (or 21~ can’t remember). Since EVERYONE in Illinois is mandated to take it,this will be people of lower socioeconomic classes only chance to take it, since it’s free. These people USUALLY do not perform as well, leading to a more generous curve. On national test days, it is mostly people who are motivated for standardized tests and recognize their significance: these people tend to perform better. There are people (a lot) at my school who have no idea what ACT is and I know won’t perform well, helping those like us get higher scores.</p>
<p>I don’t think the PSAE will be curved to reflect lower overall scores across the state. It is curved to be equal to any other tests (the national tests). You will not have any advantages on this test, nor will you have disadvantages. It will be curved to reflect the difficulty of the test, not the people taking the test. Every ACT is curved ahead of time, and it will not be a more generous curve just because everyone in IL has to take it. That would be a non-standardized decision. The whole test is standardized across the board, across the country, across the year.</p>
<p>I’m 100% sure of the opposite. It would make it an unfair test if each administration of it were curved based on who took the test (especially in the fall when mostly seniors take it). Each test is equalized via a curve, and the curve is preset…I promise you this. I have “insider” info because I work for one of the top companies. Don’t go into the PSAE thinking it is an easier than others tests. Study for it like it is just any other ACT. </p>
<p>@Nivers1027: I believe ACTtutor512 that the ACT that is part of the PSAE is standardized and is only perceived to be easier. I also believe warren1717 has a point in that after a scoring of any particular test iteration, there is a review to determine if any question should be scored differently (“curved” if you will) because of statistical anomaly. For example, if 90% of the students of Illinois sitting for the April 23rd ACT miss a particular question, and prior to the test, the creators thought it was straight-forward and unbiased, I believe that particular question’s scoring may be altered. I do not have any inside knowledge of the situation however.</p>
<p>Regarding the writing portion of the ACT, I think it will depend on the school to which you are applying if they will accept your writing score from a different sitting to combine with your PSAE ACT. </p>
<p>Because the Plus Writing section was dropped, the PSAE will be my daughter’s third (and final) time taking the ACT. Good luck with your April ACT!</p>
<p>If the ACT finds that there is an unexpected problem with a question on the ACT, then they will reflect that issue with a post-test curve (likely of 1 point on 1 section). This problem would have to be a typo or ambiguous wording that clearly confused students. This would be an incredibly rare situation because I’m sure they do an immense amount of proofreading and have years’ worth of tests to know how students will read certain questions.</p>
<p>They will not curve it more generously if a lot of students miss a certain question. ILfather is correct about an “anomaly,” but 90% missing a question wouldn’t constitute an anomaly. Hard questions frequently are missed by around 90% of test takers. </p>
<p>All people discussing post-test curves in the other boards have the wrong impression - hard questions are built into the curves, but they are not accounted for afterward unless there was a mistake.</p>
<p>I would recommend calling some schools to check what they do with a non-Writing composite score (i.e. the PSAE), but to my knowledge schools will combine your best composite with a Writing score if your best composite came from a test without Writing.</p>
I haven’t heard any seniors talk about it in comparison though. Do you know if we can use a writing from another test if we use our PSAE ACT (which doesn’t have writing)?</p>