[Ohiogift] ACT Testing for students under 13?

[Eric C Calvert]

Hi Sheli and co.

I can confirm that ACT has, for now, suspended registrations through the talent search centers due to COVID-19. Because ACT relies primarily on high schools and community colleges to serve as test centers, school closures and social distancing needs have greatly reduced overall test center capacity. So, they have told us that they are prioritizing testing opportunities for older high school students who may need scores for college and scholarship applications. Note that it MAY be possible to get a few students registered directly with ACT. But, be aware that ACT treats talent search students differently from regular ACT registrants. Because talent search students are younger than typical test takers, ACT stores and treats NUMATS ACT scores differently than regular ACT scores. (They are scored in the same manner, but scores from students registered via talent search are never shared with colleges and universities unless a student or parent specifically requests it. The assumption is that most talent search students will attain higher scores later in high school, and ACT and NUMATS both want to ensure that lower scores talent search students may earn because they have several years of K-12 education to go will never have negative consequences for participants down the road.) So, we’d encourage educators to make sure parents are aware of this distinction before trying to register younger students with the ACT directly.

CTD is working to find alternative opportunities for above-grade-level assessment, and I’ll ask Melissa Hinshaw, who oversees NUMATS at CTD, to share updates with the list as they become available.

Thanks and have a good afternoon,

Eric

From: Ohiogift <ohiogift-bounces at lists.osu.edu> On Behalf Of Amato, Sheli via Ohiogift
Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2021 10:27 AM
To: ohiogift at lists.osu.edu
Subject: [Ohiogift] ACT Testing for students under 13?

Has anyone had any success registering students under the age of 13 to take the ACT this year?

I keep running into dead ends.  ACT says to go through a Talent Development program.

Talent Development programs are not offering ACT because ACT could not guarantee seats.

Thanks,
Sheli

--
Sheli Amato
Director of Gifted Services
Orange City Schools
samato at orangecsd.org<mailto:samato at orangecsd.org>



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