For a moment, I won’t talk about the relevance of removing the science portion of the ACT (or making it optional) when science is under attack alongside our American democracy.
I also won’t talk about the movement to reestablish the ACT and SAT (standardized tests) as measures for college acceptance after moving away from using standardized tests in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But now, the ACT will change, much like the SAT did, and make the science section optional. The remaining core tests are English, reading, and math.
The exam will be evolving to “meet the challenges students and educators face” – and that will include shortening the core test and making the science section optional, chief executive Janet Godwin said in a post on the non-profit’s website.
The changes will begin with national online tests in spring 2025 and be rolled out for school-day testing in spring 2026, Godwin said in the post.
The decision to alter the ACT follows changes made to the SAT earlier this year by the College Board, the non-profit organization that develops and administers that test. The SAT was shortened by a third and went fully digital.
Science is being removed from the ACT’s core sections, leaving English, reading and math as the portions that will result in a college-reportable composite score ranging from 1 to 36, Godwin wrote. The science section, like the ACT’s writing section already was, will be optional.
Maybe we should have stuck with leaving the standardized tests out of the college equation…
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