Only four days into January, I cried for the first time this year. My tears fell into the math section of the “Princeton Review ACT Prep” book as my eyes met the stopwatch I had set prior to opening the section.
The questions I completed were correct, but I still had half the questions unanswered and 12 minutes to finish the section in a timely manner.
I wasn’t going to finish.
That thought was one I’ve repeated to myself countless times over the years, but it feels consequential this time around, because test scores are starting to impact my ability to get into schools, and ultimately, my future. The struggle has always been about time — too little of it — the clock is both my opponent and my judge.
Starting in April, the ACT plans to roll out a new, shortened format. The new tests are going to be 44 questions shorter, which sounds great in theory, but the time limit given is being reduced from three hours to two hours — losing a third of the time. That puts on a load of pressure going into the test. From someone who uses all seven hours given to me on a STAAR test, I’d be too busy thinking about the time reduction to focus on the questions themselves.
The reduced testing format is only one change the ACT is making this year. The science section will become optional for students whose states and districts allow it. More flexibility within an exam might seem nice, but I’m left wondering if taking the science portion would help or hurt my score. Not only that, but science was a crucial part of our curriculum growing up. I’ve always envied the kids who had higher scores than I did, not because they knew more material, but because their brains worked faster than mine. I don’t want to envy the kids who are getting higher scores because their weakest subject became optional, too.
Given that there will be fewer questions, a simple mistake will hurt the score more evidently. Having less material on the test means students who have been preparing for the original test don’t have as many opportunities to demonstrate what they are capable of.
The ACT is advertising these changes as enhancements; if that’s true, I’m not sure why they would implement these changes in April for virtual testers, but let paper testers wait until 2026. The ACT Education Corporation is making virtual testers the guinea pigs or allowing them to get a head start. Either way, it doesn’t present an even playing field to all the testers.
Every test taker is different, and while it’s true these new changes are going to benefit some students, it’s important to remember they could be detrimental to others. While they’ve been marketed as enhancements, they are not contoured to fit all test-takers.
Students’ test scores should be measured based on how much they know, not how fast they can find out. The ACT Education Corporation should keep the original number of test questions and add more time than what was originally given to students. This gives students the opportunity to show off their potential, while giving more time per question.
