Well, scores still aren't in. A call to the HS got the information that scores for our school/district are delayed. No more info given.

A check of the ACT site provides the following info:

Scores take longer if:

-answer sheets from your test center arrived late or your test date was rescheduled. (Please allow an additional 1 to 2 weeks for answer sheets to arrive from countries other than the U.S. and Canada.)
-the "matching" information you provide on the answer sheet (name, date of birth, and match number) is not consistent with the matching information on your admission ticket. Scores cannot be reported until they can be accurately matched to the correct person. About 8–10% of examinees provide inconsistent information.
-you provide incomplete or inaccurate test form information on the answer sheet, or the answer sheet has not cleared all other scoring accuracy checks.
-an irregularity is reported at your test center.
-you owe any registration fees.
-you tested as a standby. Scores cannot be reported until both the registration folder submitted at the test center and the answer sheet have been processed and computer matched.

Scores are processed and reported weekly, usually each Wednesday and Friday, once the situation causing the delay is resolved.[.i]

The only factor I can see applying to an entire school/district is an [i]irregularity at the test center.

Anyone have any thoughts/info on this?

I sure hope this isn't another example of our local geniuses innocently selling and buying "study guides"!

Junior said he just hopes that he has an idea of how he did on that April test before he has to go take the June 14 ACT.

He had not already taken an ACT (not since 8th grade), though I heard other juniors had sat for it twice already before the April test!

Mail just came - nothing. Thanks for checking with the school, Dinsdale.

Called ACT.

They say they have no information of our school's results being delayed, and no record of having told our school of any delay.

They wouldn't give any date, but said all scores, including delayed ones, should be out by mid-July!

Man, I hate not being able to get a straight answer to what should be a simple question.

Yeah, we're getting antsy, particularly, as GEmom2 said, my son would like to know how he did prior to retaking the test. He did the Excel practice sessions and scored very high but didn't feel so confident after the actual test, which is why he signed up for the June 14th date.

This is much later than prior years, I'm positive.

Assuming that West's scores came out about the same time as everyone else's last year, these are definitely late....sorry Dins, that's typical ACT for you.

quote:

Originally posted by Amy:
....sorry Dins, that's typical ACT for you.

Naw, I'm blaming the school counsellors!

We only use one "L". I think your profession uses two.

SAT scores came today.

Funny, my kid just took the SAT today.
Will be interesting to see whether we get results from today's test or the ACT first!

Talked to someone from West who got theirs Sat.
We still have not.
School says ACT is the bad player here.

That's likely true. ACT has the April national test date plus every Illinois high school junior as well as every Colorado high school junior taking the test within a few weeks....

Still, it is frustrating for the ACT test-taker at our house. He would like to have known if there was any area he needed more emphasis in his studying before this Saturday's test.

He said no one he knows has received their score, yet.

Oh, absolutely. I didn't mean to dismiss it....ACT should have this figured out by now. God knows they make enough cash of this whole test thing.

Nobody we know has scores yet, either. It is frustrating, because if they've done well, it really makes the Saturday test a whole lot easier. Not that they shouldn't try 100%, no matter what - but it's just a different level of stress, knowing.

I was talking to some folks on Saturday and one of the moms said it was the same last year - nobody knew prior to taking the June test. But I know for certain that two years ago, we had the scores well in advance, because my son's score was sufficiently high enough that he didn't retake the test. I don't think we even signed up for it, so we must have known the scores before the sign up deadline.

Didn't have that option this year.

quote:

Originally posted by GE Fan:
What's with all this multiple ACT test taking? 14 years ago when I took it, it was essentially a one and done thing.

I agree...and what's with this concept that you "study" for the ACT?

I am sure the Glenbard schools have done what we did at mine: We tabulated scores over several different years and found that students perform better on the second test 75% of the time. After that, the gains drop off significantly. So, we always recommend that the kids try it twice. Beyond that is really up to them.

Stats show that some level of test prep does provide at least a small increase in scores. Most test prep programs give a 1 - 2 point increase at most. But as students score higher, the gains are typically less significant. (In other words, a kid who gets a 32 is already knowledgeable enough that test prep might not make much of an impact but then again, even with one more point, that can make a big difference for those most competitive schools.) I've seen kids with poor academic skills get a five or six point jump in their ACT score after a test prep program like Kaplan or Princeton Review.


Of course, with the Prairie State ACT, you get one for free so if kids count that as one and the National April test or the National June test as #2, they are still only paying for one even thought they can take it twice.

Thanks, Amy. You are right - the school ACT is a "freebie," and I told our boy, when he asked, that if he received at least a 33, he didn't have to take it again. Since we have no score on that exam, he is going to take it Saturday.

The reason for the quick follow-up was that #1 - We thought that all that education would still be at the forefront of his brain - not replaced by summer slacking, and #2 - The Fall tests conflict with other Saturday obligations.

I was surprised when I heard that kids had already taken it a few times BEFORE the Prairie State/ACT in April.

This is akin to the college admission process today. He was shocked when my husband and I told him that we only applied to one school - because that was where we wanted to go - and we got in. No extensive "safe school or stretch school" and all of the hoops to jump through these days.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: GEmom2,

None of my kids took any of the tests more than once.
Tho before I criticize the practice, I get the impression that obtaining admission even to some state schools, and jockeying for cash, is a more competitive process than when I did it back in the late 70s.
I also think there is a lot of herd mentality here - folks see some people taking multiple tests and test prep to try to gain some advantage, and feel they'll be letting the home team down if they don't do likewise.
At casa Dinsdale we feel you get pretty good results from developing good study habits throughout elementary and high school, and getting a good night's sleep and eating a good breakfast before the test. Old school!

I am pretty-much with you on "Old School". It does work. Not all kids have parents as wonderful as us though.

And yes, the admission process has changed. I only applied to three schools and really only two, initially, because I wanted a state school option in case the financial aid at the private school where I wanted to go, didn't work out. The private school was coming through with some good aid but then I visited Purdue for a concert and fell in love with the campus. That was my third application in maybe December of my senior year and that was where I ended up. Go Boilers! Suffice to say, it was easier to get into Purdue back then....though not a lot different. Certainly not as different as U of I's admission has become!

Before the PSAE test incorporated the ACT a few years back, most juniors took the ACT for the first time in early April (the national test date) and then, if they felt uncertain about their performance, they re-took in June. Back then (about ten years ago), the fall tests were primarily taken by kids who:
Needed SAT Subject Tests,
Needed the SAT and hadn't taken it yet,
Were still very disappointed in their spring ACT scores and did test prep over the summer,
Were looking for even a one-point gain to give them an edge in admission and/or scholarships.

Now, lots of kids take it again in the fall for a whole bunch of different reasons. Personally, I am hoping my kids will agree to take it twice and that's it. Won't be long until that discussion takes place.

We're pretty old school here, too, particularly with my oldest, because, for one thing, we really didn't know better. He took it once, at school; was more than satisfied with his score so didn't take it again. And we didn't enroll him in any of those test prep classes, either. He applied for one school and got in.

And so I was cluelessly riding along with all that, pretty satisfied, when I chaperoned a field trip for his Humanities class and started talking with the other moms - all of whom had hired "college coaches" for their precious darlings. (This was fall semester, senior year.) I listened to them cluck their tongues and pretty much tell me I was setting up my kid for failure by not having a coach to work with him, on his college essays, applications, finding the right Ivy League school (hah!), etc., etc., test preps - because these coaches had been part of their staff for quite a while, apparently - and I ran home to my husband in a panic. "We're ruining our son!" I cried.

Fortunately Mr. Scribbler is a much more level-headed person than I am. He said, "Don't worry. He'll end up somewhere. Unfortunately, because it's going to cost us a ton of dough." And indeed he did - not an Ivy League school because he actually wanted to have a little fun at college, gasp! - scoring higher on the ACT than most of these kids, getting a nice little scholarship - and writing his essay all by himself, no coaching necessary. (Although I did ask a friend who teaches at Milliken to read it over once.)

With the 2nd son, we did have him take a prep course, and he wanted to sign up for the June ACT on his own; we didn't suggest it. But that's the extent of it. As Mr. Scribbler said, "He'll end up somehwere. Unfortunately," and that's all we should hope for, anyway. It's their futures - not ours, and too many parents forget this.

(Edited to add - the mail just came, and still no frickin' test score.)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: scribbler,