Introduction
What is ACT about?
- The ACT Test is a standardized test that measures a high school student’s academic skills and readiness for college by testing an individual knowledge.
- ACT tests your English, math, science, and writing skills. It was created using extensive research into expected high school abilities and necessary college expectations. It is all about setting you up for success in college.
- ACT is a test offered by a nonprofit organization, with the same name, ACT (American College Testing). This test is seen as one of the two major standard tests used in the United States for admission into colleges.
- The ACT test is also often taken by students in the US to determine whether they are "ready for college". Sometimes, regardless of whether they are going to college or not, states and individual school districts require all high school students to take the ACT, using it to assess the students' learning and/or the performance of schools. It is used a standard of determining the academic performance and/or excellence of individual students, or schools at large.
ACT
All requests should be submitted by the school official, through the Test Accessibility and Accommodations System (TAA) by the published late registration deadline for your examinee's preferred test date.
Examinees may be placed into either a National test center or into Special testing, depending on the accommodation approved and test option. If Special testing is required, ACT considers the submission of the request as certification that the school will test the student as part of ACT Special Testing during the published special testing window.
If the school is not able to test the examinee, the request within TAA should reflect this as a comment. The school should notify the examinee that Special testing cannot be administered and the examinee will need to work with ACT for an alternate location.
Receive a notification email from examinee that accommodations and/or supports need to be requested.
Confirm that a signed Consent to Release Information (PDF) is on file at your school.
Sign in or create an account in TAA.
New accounts must be validated prior to accessing TAA, this may take up to 5 business days for this process to occur.
TAA User Guide (PDF)
Submit the request formally through TAA. You will be asked to provide:
- examinee details
- test date information
- reason for the request
- plan details
- requested accommodations and/or supports
- required documentation for the: accommodations and/or supports
ACT will review the request. Requests are normally processed in 10-14 business days.
You'll receive an email when the Decision Notification is available to view in TAA.
- Review the decision notification.
- Print a copy of the decision notification and provide it to the examinee.
If the request has been approved:
For National testing: The examinee must submit photo identification. The testing location will be provided on the examinee’s admission ticket.
For Special testing: The first approval will assume the school is willing to test Special Testing unless noted by the school. Any subsequent requests will require the school to recertify their ability to administer Special testing during the published window.
Once certified, Materials for special testing will be sent to the school prior to the test date.
If the request has not been approved:
You may use TAA to edit the existing request and provide additional documentation for reconsideration.
Note:
If a reconsideration request is submitted after the applicable late deadline, decisions will not be available for the preferred test date.
Privacy
ACT will treat all information provided to support accommodations and EL supports requests as confidential and will use it solely to determine eligibility. Details about accommodations or EL supports will be shared only with the testing staff and will not be released to anyone else, including score report recipients. The only exceptions are for those instances in which an examinee’s accommodation/support-related documents and information are the subject of a subpoena or other court order, or an enforceable request from a government entity.
Resources
| File Name and Link | Description |
|---|---|
| ACT-Approved Bilingual Word-to-Word Dictionaries | Guidelines and a detailed list of approved word-to-word dictionaries for use by examinees approved for English learner supports. |
| Guidelines and a detailed list of approved word-to-word dictionaries for use by examinees approved for English learner supports. | For examinees using the practice USB materials to prepare for Special testing |
| Quick Start Guide for Requesting Accommodations and/or English Learner Supports | |
| ACT Test Accessibility and Accommodations System (TAA) User Guide | Instructions for how to access and navigate the TAA system. |
| Test Coordinator Policies for ACT Special Testing | Brief outline of policies and requirements for a qualified member of the school staff to serve as the test coordinator for Special testing. |
| ELL Toolkit | Use these resources as you help make a difference for underrepresented students. |
ACT - Related Information
ACT Test Pattern
ACT Test Registration
ACT Test Eligibility
What is a Good ACT Score? – ACT Score Chart
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