ACT State Council
Information Packet & Application Forms
2015
1
Thank you for being a part of ACT’s 2015 College and Career Readiness Campaign. ACT is pleased to
be collaborating with your state to recognize businesses, community colleges, high schools, and
high school students that encourage, promote, or exemplify college and career readiness through
their activities and accomplishments.
This packet of information includes an application form as well as a list of frequently asked
questions. Your completed application will be reviewed by members of your ACT State Council,
which is composed of members of the education and workforce communities in your state. These
reviewers will also receive relevant data from ACT.
Each participating state is in the midst of making selections—some by application and some by
committee—of exemplary candidates in each of the four categories. If the State Council chooses
your application as one of your state’s exemplars in the categories of employer, community college,
high school, or high school senior, the Council will fill out a nomination form that will officially
inform us of your state’s selections. That form will also serve as your state’s nomination form for
the ACT Selection Committee. In early April, this committee will evaluate all applications and
announce four national semifinalists per category (for a total of 16 national semifinalists). These 16
semifinalists will then be submitted to the National Selection Committee in May, where one
exemplar per category will be chosen as our National Exemplar.
The State Council asks that you complete and submit these forms by January 23, 2015. Your
cooperation in meeting this deadline is greatly appreciated, as the ACT State Council will need
sufficient time to carefully review each application.
All application forms must be submitted, via email (preferred) or mail, by January 23, 2015 to:
Shannon Hayes
Shannon.Hayes@act.org
One Dupont Circle NW
Suite 220
Washington, DC 20036
Thank you again for participating in ACT’s 2015 College and Career Readiness Campaign.
2
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the ACT College and Career Readiness Campaign?
The College and Career Readiness Campaign is an annual campaign in which ACT works with top
state officials and ACT State Councils to celebrate achievement and create awareness around the
goal of college and career readiness for all.
The Campaign seeks to recognize—across the education and workforce continuum—exemplary
college and career readiness efforts by an employer, a community college, a high school, and a high
school student in each participating state. Our focus is on those who have gone above and beyond
expectations: A student who has overcome adversity and excelled beyond what his or her previous
test scores would have predicted; a high school that sends more disadvantaged students on to
postsecondary education than its peers; a community college with higher retention and graduation
rates than the statistics of its student body would indicate; or an employer which seeks to hire
traditionally overlooked workers and offers the training and support necessary for these workers to
succeed in their careers.
What is meant by college and career readiness?
ACT has long defined college and career readiness as the knowledge and skills a student needs to
enroll and succeed in credit-bearing first-year courses at a postsecondary institution such as a 2- or
4-year college, trade school, or technical school, without the need for remediation.
How are ACT’s national award recipients selected?
Once states have made their nominations for the award categories, they complete nomination
forms to demonstrate to ACT’s National Selection Committee how each of the state’s nominees
exemplifies the core college and career readiness criteria in its respective category.
Nominated groups or individuals will be evaluated on the following criteria:
Workplace Success Award (Employer)
- Strength of relationships with local colleges and high schools
- Use of career readiness assessments for recruitment and advancement within the company
- Dedication to providing employees with opportunities to acquire new knowledge and skills
- Demonstrated effort to create and maintain diversity in its workforce
- Demonstrated efforts of employer and employees to give back to the local community
- Nominees are encouraged but not required to use the ACT National Career Readiness
Certificate or ACT WorkKeys program
3
Career Preparedness Award (Community College)
- Accessibility of career readiness assessments and career preparation programs
- Strength of relationships with local employers
- Student success indicators including retention, graduation, and four-year college transfer
rates, including for students of underrepresented racial/ethnic and socioeconomic
backgrounds
- Demonstrated dedication to career planning and to providing a support structure for
students
- Demonstrated commitment to providing leadership opportunities for students outside the
classroom
- Nominees are encouraged but not required to administer ACT solutions to students or
require any assessments administered by ACT, but if there is insufficient data from ACT
solutions to show student success, other data should be included with the application
College and Career Transition Award (High School)
- Demonstrated student growth toward meeting ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks
between grade 8 and grade 12
- Aggregate ACT scores and percentage of students meeting ACT’s College Readiness
Benchmarks
- Demonstrated success in serving students of underrepresented racial/ethnic and
socioeconomic backgrounds
- Demonstrated dedication to ensuring that students gain the knowledge and skills needed to
prepare them for success after high school
- Demonstrated commitment to providing leadership opportunities for students outside the
classroom
- Nominees are encouraged but not required to have a certain percentage of students take
the ACT test but should require or strongly encourage their students to take a college
admissions assessment. If nominees do not have a rich data set of scores from ACT’s
continuum of assessments, nominees must include data from other sources showing student
growth and success towards post-secondary readiness. Special consideration will be given to
schools serving a large percentage of traditionally underserved students, as demonstrated
by factors such as the percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch
Student Readiness Award (High School Student)
- Performance in relation to ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks in English, mathematics,
reading, and science
- Demonstrated progress toward college and career readiness between grade 8 and grade 12
- Demonstrated success in high school coursework, as signified by high school grade point
average
- Success beyond the classroom, including extracurricular activities, leadership positions,
community service, and work experience
- Success in the face of adversity or other extraordinary circumstances
- Nominees must have taken the ACT test and should come from a household making less
than $60,000 annually
4
In early April, an ACT selection committee will review all state nominations and choose the national
semifinalists. The semifinalists will be presented to a National Selection Committee, which will
select the most exemplary employer, community college, high school, and high school student from
among the semifinalists.
What is the makeup of the National Selection Committee?
The National Selection Committee is composed of national education and workforce development
thought leaders who are committed to the goal of preparing all individuals for college and career
success. In 2014, the committee was chaired by Ginny Edwards, Editor-in-Chief of Education Week,
and included representatives from the National Association of State Boards of Education, BusinessHigher Education Forum, Association for Career and Technical Education, National Association of
Manufacturers, Council of Chief State School Officers, and National Council for Community and
Education Partnerships.
How will the national award recipients be announced?
National award recipients will be announced and celebrated at ACT’s National Gala on College and
Career Readiness in Washington, DC. ACT will cover travel expenses to the gala for each of the four
national recipients and one guest of each recipient.
National award recipients will be presented with crystal awards. All recognized students—one from
each participating state—will receive scholarships to the postsecondary institution of their choice.
Additional questions?
Please feel free to contact Campaign Manager Shannon Hayes at 202.223.2318 or
Shannon.Hayes@act.org.
5
Career Preparedness Award Application Form
Community College
If your State Council chooses your application as your state’s exemplary community college which
embodies successful preparation for student careers, they will fill out a nomination form which will
officially inform us of your state’s selection.
An ACT committee will objectively evaluate each state’s community college candidate in April 2015 and
choose four national semifinalists to be evaluated by our National Selection Committee, which will select
one to receive the Career Preparedness Award.
All community college exemplars will be evaluated based on the following criteria, wherever applicable:
(1) Accessibility of career readiness assessments and career preparation programs
(2) Strength of relationships with local employers
(3) Student success indicators including second-year retention, graduation, and four-year-college
transfer rates, including for students from underrepresented racial/ethnic and socioeconomic
backgrounds
(4) Demonstrated dedication to career planning and to providing a support structure for students
(5) Demonstrated commitment to providing leadership opportunities for students outside the
classroom
If your community college does not have a rich data set of scores from ACT’s continuum of assessments,
you must include data from other sources showing student growth and success. These criteria will be
considered in combination by the State Council to select one statewide community college exemplar. ACT
will share your school’s data with members of the State Council. This data may include but is not limited
to your students’ scores on ACT’s continuum of assessments and other student success indicators. State
Council members will not receive any personally identifiable student data.
If your community college is chosen to receive the national Career Preparedness Award, ACT will cover
travel expenses to Washington, DC, for one college official and a guest to attend our National Gala on
College and Career Readiness, to be held on June 9, 2015.
6
COMMUNITY COLLEGE INFORMATION
SCHOOL NAME
MAILING ADDRESS
CITY / STATE / ZIP CODE
ACT CODE
SCHOOL OFFICIAL’S FIRST
AND LAST NAME
SCHOOL OFFICIAL’S TITLE
SCHOOL OFFICIAL’S PHONE
STUDENT SUCCESS INDICATORS
SECOND-YEAR RETENTION
RATES (%)
All Students
GRADUATION
RATES (%)
All Students
FOUR-YEAR-COLLEGE TRANSFER
RATES (%)
All Students
Underrepresented
Minority1
Underrepresented
Minority
Underrepresented
Minority
Low Income2
Low Income
Low Income
The State Council will receive your community college’s ACT-provided Student Success Indicators,
including average scores on ACT’s continuum of assessments and other data. If your school does not have
a large ACT-tested population, please include with your application any alternative measurements of
student growth and success, if applicable.
1 Underrepresented minority students include African American, Hispanic, American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and students who
report two or more races.
2 Students are classified as low-income if they report a family income of $36,000 or less.
7
COMMUNITY COLLEGE EVALUATION (please complete all 4 questions)
1. What career readiness assessments and/or career preparation programs does the college make
available to its students? Please provide details about what is offered and how it is made available. (250
words maximum)
2. Please explain the strength of the college’s relationships with local employers. Be as specific as possible,
offering evidence to support your claims. For example, what kinds of partnerships does the college enter
into with employers? How do students benefit from the partnerships? (250 words maximum)
3. In what ways do administrators and faculty demonstrate a commitment to providing a support
structure for students, including career planning? Please provide specific examples. (250 words maximum)
4. What leadership opportunities outside the classroom does the college offer to students? Please provide
specific examples. (250 words maximum)
8
SPECIAL RECOGNITIONS
Please use the space below to detail the college’s awards (area, state, or national), memberships,
partnerships (local service organizations, businesses, etc.), and/or any other notable achievements. (250
words maximum)
Please email or mail completed application by 1/23/15 to:
9
Shannon Hayes
Shannon.Hayes@act.org
One Dupont Circle NW, Suite 220
Washington, DC 20036