ACT: The New(er) Kid on the Block

By now, you have likely at least heard of the ACT. This post is designed to give you a basic understanding of the test and its sections. In later writings, I will go more in depth with each section of the ACT in order to help you best prepare yourself and your children.

So, what exactly is the ACT?

The ACT is a standardized test that is used by colleges to determine admission. Unlike the SAT, the ACT (at least in the northeast) has only become popular over the last few years. The ACT consists of 5 parts, though the last part is optional. These parts, in the order they appear on the test, are:

English
Math
Reading
Science
Writing

What is tested on the ACT English section?

Grammar and stylistic reasoning are tested on the ACT English section. In a nutshell, this is a grammar test, so students need to know the rules of grammar. When I tutor students I go a step further than just the basics of grammar and show students 4 easy steps to finding the grammar error. I have found that the majority of students are weak when it comes to understanding the rules of grammar. They can get several questions right, but they don’t truly understand why the answer is what it is. Most students benefit immensely from tutoring on grammar because once they grasp the basic concepts their understanding of the rules takes on a snowball effect.

As you can see in the image (you can click any of them and read it on its own page), students are asked questions within an essay. Students have to correct the error for grammar or use reasoning/logic to best structure the essay.

The articles are a little quirky, but interesting. In fact, I can’t recall any students complaining about the actual content of the writing, which is good.

The major issue for students is time. The ACT English section consists of 5 essays, each with 15 questions for a total of 75 questions. These 75 grammar questions are to be answered within 45 minutes. If that sounds like a lot, it is. Yet, it is doable if students are prepared.

The ACT uses what sometimes seems like a magic formula to take the number a student gets right and pair it up with a score out of 36.

What is tested on the ACT Math section?

The ACT Math section is 60 questions long. Students have 60 minutes to answer these questions. The interesting part of this section is the way it is designed:

The first 20 or so questions are “easy.” Students can use basic formulas and basic math to figure out the problems and move through this part well under the minute a question pace that the test seems to give you. Students who understand how to use a calculator for testing purposes can fly through this section.
The second 20 or so questions are “medium.” Students need a deeper understanding of math to get these questions. Here, students will find algebra and geometry questions, among other types of questions.
The final 20 or so questions are hard. I’m not going to put quotes around the word hard because by this part of the ACT Math section, students will either know how to do the problems or will be picking their favorite letter. This is where a good tutor comes into play, especially if students haven’t completed trigonometry yet.

Like the ACT English, the ACT scoring formula gives students their score out of 36, with 36 being the highest.

What is tested on the ACT Reading and ACT Science sections?

Why did I combine these? The ACT Reading section and the ACT Science section are both reading comprehension based sections. The ACT Reading section is strictly reading comprehension. There is very little formal vocabulary on the test, but several questions utilize the vocabulary in context to formulate the questions. The ACT Science section is not biology, earth science, or chemistry based. No prior knowledge is needed, though it helps if students are accustomed to doing labs for their science classes. In a nutshell, the ACT Science section is “sciencey” reading.

The Reading section has 4 passages and 40 questions. The readings are taken from a novel or a short story, social studies context, science background, and humanities articles. The real issue on this section is time. Students have 35 minutes to read the four articles and answer 10 questions for each one. The real key to the ACT is time, and overall it is very much a reading comprehension test with math, grammar, and writing.

The Science section is made up of 6 to 7 lab experiments. The student’s job is to answer questions about the experiments. Like the Reading section, students have 35 minutes to answer 40 questions, and this can be frustrating for many. Combine fatigue with a reluctance to read and the potential for frustration is can set in. The trick is to show students how to take the test and focus on getting the answers. It is and can be as simple as that.

Both the Reading and Science sections are scored out of 36.

What about the optional Essay?

Think argumentative essay. Students have to evaluate different viewpoints and give examples for and against these viewpoints. Unfortunately, for most students, English class is based on writing literary essays. The ACT Essay requires students to argue a point and provide evidence refuting the other points. Students need to focus on perspectives or they could find themselves in trouble. Many students benefit from a simple template that reminds them to explain the other side of the argument for each perspective. It is easier said than done, and students have to commit to writing in a way they are unfamiliar with. The good thing? With good coaching and practice, students can write phenomenal essays. I have seen students grow as writers many, many times.

The Essay section is scored by two graders. They use a rubric to grade the essays. The scoring is a little convoluted and is best left for my more in-depth post about the ACT Essay.

Thanks so much for reading this article. I hope it was informative and that it helps clarify things for you. Be on the look out for follow up posts that go into further depth.

~Laurence