Getting the Most from your
ACT Explore Reporting Package
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Meredith Townley
Trainer, Learning Management Team
Phone: 319.333.9430
meredith.townley@act.org
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OUR MISSION
Helping people achieve education and workplace success
OUR
VALUES
Excellence
Diversity
Leadership
Empowerment
Learning
Sustainability
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Workshop Objectives
Introduction
 Describe ACT’s definition of college and career
readiness and ACT’s K-Career Continuum
 Find key data points in the ACT Explore Student
and Summary Profile Reports
 Translate data into insights about curriculum,
instruction and support at the district, school,
and classroom levels
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Defining
College and
Career
Readiness
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ACT’s Definition of College and Career Readiness
College and Career Readiness is the level
of preparation a student needs
to be equipped to enroll and succeed –
without remediation – in a
credit-bearing, first-year course
at a two-year or four-year institution,
trade school, or technical school.
www.act.org/commoncore
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Preparation for College and Career
Prepare all students for
success, no matter
which path they choose
after graduation.
In the next decade, nearly two-thirds of
new jobs created in the U.S. will require
some post-secondary education or
considerable on-the-job training.
http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/reports/workready.html
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ACT K through Career Solutions
K-12 Components
MEASURING STUDENT PROGRESS TOWARD READINESS
IMPROVING
COURSE RIGOR
EXPLORE
PLAN
The ACT
ENGAGE
QualityCore
8th and 9th grade
curriculum-based
educational and
career planning
program
10th grade
curriculum-based
educational and
career planning
program
11th and 12 grade
curriculum-based
assessment for
learning outcomes
Middle and high
school
assessments that
measure behavioral
factors of academic
success
Research-driven
solutions for
strengthening
curriculum
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ACT K through Career Solutions
K-12 Components
MEASURING STUDENT PROGRESS TOWARD READINESS
EXPLORE
PLAN
8th and 9th3grade
10th grade
rd – 10th grade
curriculum-based
curriculum-based
Vertically articulated, standardseducational and
educational and
based
system of summative,
career
planning
career planning
interim,
and
classroom-based
program
program
assessments
IMPROVING
COURSE RIGOR
The ACT
ENGAGE
QualityCore
11th and 12 grade
curriculum-based
assessment for
learning outcomes
Middle and high
school
assessments that
measure behavioral
factors of academic
success
Research-driven
solutions for
strengthening
curriculum
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Longitudinal Assessments
Common Score Scale Relationship
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Longitudinal Assessments
ACT Curriculum-Based Assessments
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ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks
Test
College Course
English
8th Grade
9th Grade
English Composition
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15
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Math
College Algebra
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Reading
Social Sciences
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Science
Biology
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 Empirically derived
 50% likelihood of achieving a B or higher or about a 75%
likelihood of achieving a C or higher in the corresponding
credit-bearing college course
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Condition of College and Career Readiness, 2013
National Results
Percent of ACT-Tested High School Graduates by Number of
ACT College Readiness Benchmarks Attained, 2013
http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/cccr13/readiness4.html
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Condition of College and Career Readiness, 2013
Arizona Results
Percent of ACT-Tested High School Graduates by Number of
ACT College Readiness Benchmarks Attained, 2013
http://www.act.org/newsroom/data/2013/states/pdf/Arizona.pdf
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Condition of College and Career Readiness, 2013
Arizona Results
Percent of 2012–2013 ACT Explore–Tested 8th Graders
Meeting ACT College Readiness Benchmarks
http://www.act.org/newsroom/data/2013/states/pdf/Arizona.pdf
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Student
Score
Report
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Student Score Report
Header
1. Academic
Achievement
& Education
Planning
2. Intervention Planning
3. Career
Exploration
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1. Academic Achievement and Education Planning: Your Scores
Student Scores and Norms
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1. Academic Achievement and Education Planning: Your Scores
Student Scores and Norms
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1. Academic Achievement and Education Planning: Your Plans
College Readiness
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1. Academic Achievement and Education Planning: Your Plans
College Readiness
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1. Academic Achievement and Education Planning: Your Plans
College Readiness
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1. Academic Achievement and Education Planning: Your Scores
Estimated Scores on ACT Plan or The ACT
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1. Academic Achievement and Education Planning: Your Scores
Estimated Scores on ACT Plan or The ACT
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1. Academic Achievement and Education Planning: Your Scores
Estimated Scores on ACT Plan or The ACT
• Core
Coursework
• Reported
Needs
• Plans
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2. Intervention Planning: Your Skills
Item Response Summary and Suggestions for Improvement
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2. Intervention Planning: Your Skills
Item Response Summary and Suggestions for Improvement
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2. Intervention Planning: Your Skills
Item Response Summary and Suggestions for Improvement
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3. Career Exploration: Your Career Possibilities
World of Work
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3. Career Exploration: Your Career Possibilities
World of Work
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3. Career Exploration: Your Career Possibilities
World of Work
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Student Score Report
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Student Score Report
Dissemination
 What happens next?
– Teachers/counselors learn to interpret
individual student results
– School administrators should be aware of
individual student results
– Teachers/counselors review results with
students
– Teachers/counselors review results with
parents
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Student Resources
www.explorestudent.org
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Profile
Summary
Report
 Aggregates data from Student Score Reports
 Identifies if students are on target to be college and
career ready
 Shows if coursework aligns with career interests and
educational plans
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Frequency Distribution Table
Profile Summary Report: Table 1a
 How do the ACT
Explore scores
of our students
compare with
those of
students
nationally?
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Frequency Distribution Table
Profile Summary Report
191 Total Students
Benchmark
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Frequency Distribution Table
Profile Summary Report
191 Total Students
Students on
target to be
college ready
Students on the cusp
Benchmark
53 (28%) Students
Above Benchmark
100 (52%) Students on
the Cusp
44 in danger of slipping
41 within 2 points of benchmark
Students in need
of intervention
38 (20%) Students Below
Benchmark
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ACT’s College Readiness Standards
 Identify the knowledge and
skills students are likely to
demonstrate at various score
levels on each academic test.
 Help interpret what the scores
earned on ACT Explore, ACT
Plan, and The ACT mean.
 Direct link between what
students have learned and
what they are ready to learn
next.
http://act.org/standard/
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Statements that
describe what students
are likely to know and
be able to do...
And statements that
provide suggestions to
progress to a higher level
of achievement
http://act.org/standard
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College Readiness Standard Score Ranges
Profile Summary Report: Table 1c
 How does your
local
“% At or Above
Benchmark”
compare to the
national %?
52%/64%
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College Readiness Standard Score Ranges
Profile Summary Report: Table 1c
 In which ranges are
the majority of your
students?
 Given these score
ranges, in which
College Readiness
Standards are your
students most
proficient?
13-15
16-19
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http://act.org/standard
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Scores by Gender, Race, and Ethnic Background
Profile Summary Report: Table 2
 Where are the
instructional
gaps?
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Educational Plans
Profile Summary Report: Table 3
 What are the
future
educational
plans of your
students?
 How can you
encourage and
support these
educational
plans?
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Educational Plans and Needs
Profile Summary Report: Table 4
 What areas of need have students’ expressed?
 Are we providing programs or services to meet our
students’ needs?
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Profile Summary Report
Additional information
 Profile Summary Report also includes:
– Relation between scores and career
interests (Tables 5a and 5b)
– Local Items (Table 6)
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Item Response
Summary Report
 Provides data on the item-by-item performance of
your students.
 Is a very useful tool for curriculum review when
used along with the test booklet.
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Item Response Summary Report
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Item Response Summary Report
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Item Response Summary Report
Given your curriculum, is the
percentage of your report
group answering each item
correctly and consistent with
your expectations?
Is a large percentage of your
report group choosing
incorrect response options?
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Application Exercise
Item Response Summary Report
 Circle the *asterisked numbers (correct answers)
for each question.
 Use your highlighters to mark only the circled
numbers (make a key):
No Mark
75%+
Green
50-74%
Yellow
25-49%
Pink
0-24%
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Replace image with what is in the workbook and fix the color coding key to match
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Application Exercise
Analysis
Look for patterns:
 Dramatic differences from the reference group
 High percentages clustered around a wrong answer
 High percentages of omitted questions
Do any of these occur more
frequently for some domains than
others?
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Next Steps: Curriculum Alignment Resources at ACT
• Assists in organizing teaching practices
• Offers sequence for delivering content
• Provides clear scope of what must be taught to all
students
www.act.org/standards
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Next Steps: Curriculum Alignment Resources at ACT
 Examples of test items
by Strand by Score
Range
 Suggestions for
strategies and
assessments by Strands
 Special Section: Using
assessment information
to help support lowscoring students
www.act.org/standard/guides/explore/index.html
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Examples of Test Items by Score Range
www.act.org/standard/guides/explore/index.html
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Next Steps: Curriculum Alignment Resources at ACT
 Curriculum Review Worksheets
http://act.org/standard/instruct/pdf/CurriculumReviewWorksheets.pdf
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Your District’s Curriculum Compared to the
College Readiness Standards
http://act.org/standard/instruct/pdf/CurriculumReviewWorksheets.pdf
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Early
Intervention
Rosters
School-level reports that identify students who fall
into three categories:
 Roster 1: Educational Plans
 Roster 2: Below 10th percentile (ACT Explore only)
 Roster 3: Need Help
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ACT Plan Early Intervention Rosters
Roster 1: Early Identification
Roster 1: Students indicating they do not plan to finish high school
or have no post-high school educational plans
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ACT Plan Early Intervention Rosters
Roster 1: Early Identification
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ACT Plan Early Intervention Rosters
Roster 1: Early Identification
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ACT Plan Early Intervention Rosters
Roster 2: Coursework Intervention
– Roster 2:
ACT Explore: Students scoring below the national 10th
percentile
ACT Plan: students with
2a) composite score of 16 or higher who reported
they have no plans to go to college
2b) reported that they plan to attend college but
earned a composite score of 15 or less, or
reported that they do not plan to take college
core coursework.
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ACT Plan Early Intervention Rosters
Roster 2: Coursework Intervention
Roster 2: ACT Explore: Students scoring below the
national 10th percentile
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Early Intervention Roster
Roster 3: Need for Assistance
– Roster 3: Students who expressed a need for help in
a particular area
Are we providing
programs or
services to meet
our students’
needs?
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Additional Resources
 Contact Customer Service:
877-789-2925
 Educator Resources:
www.act.org/explore
 Student Resource:
www.explorestudent.org
 College Readiness Standards:
www.act.org/standard
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Questions
Questions?
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