ACT CONTRIBUTOR OR DISRUPTOR IN HIGHER EDUCATIONWord文档格式.docx

ACT CONTRIBUTOR OR DISRUPTOR IN HIGHER EDUCATIONWord文档格式.docx

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A文章编号：

1672-1578（2015）07-0002-03

　　AmericanCollegeTest，abbreviatedasACT，isrecognizedbymostcollegesanduniversitiesinAmericaasarequirementofadmission.ManyselectivecollegesanduniversitieshavehighrequirementsforACTscoreandsomeevenuseitasoneoftherequirementstoevaluatetheapplicationofscholarships.Americanfamiliesalsovaluethistestbyspendingabout$530millionannuallyintestpreparationandtutoringservices（Marte，2011）.Itdoesnotincludetheregistrationfee$35.

　　GeneralintroductionofACT

　　Thistestisprovidedsixtoseventimesinoneyear，whichconsistsoffourindependentsubjecttests：

English，Mathematics，Reading，andscience.（Italsooffersanoptionalwritingpartwhichstudentstakeattheendofthetest）Itrequiredthestudentstofinishallthefourtestsin205minutes.Eachtesthas1astheminimumscoreand36asthemaximumscore.Moreover，acompositescoreisprovidedbasedontheaverageofthefourtestsroundedtothenearestwholenumber.Intermsoftestquestions，itispredominantlymadeupofmultiplequestions.UnlikeSAT，ACTdoesnotpenalizestudents'

scoresforwronganswerstodiscouragerandomguessing.

　　Thestudentswhowanttoapplyforthecollegesanduniversitiesusuallytakethetestsinthespringoftheirjunioryearorinthefalloftheirsenioryearsothattheycanobtainthereporttimely.Iftheyarenotsatisfiedwiththeirscores，theycantakethetestsseveraltimesuntilthetimetheyfeelthatthescoretheygainissatisfactory.Collegesanduniversitiestypicallytendtousethehighestscoreamongtheseveraltestsfortheevaluationofthestudents'

admission.

　　BriefHistoryofACT

　　TheACTisdesignedasanachievementtestmainlybyEverettLindquistandTedMcCarreltohighlightthetalentswhoareacademicallycompetentinthestatein1959，whichgrewoutofahighschoolcompetitioninIowa.AccordingthethefoundersofACT，therearetwopurposescombinedinthistest.Thefirstistoestablishacommonadmissiontestthatcanberecognizednationallyasasignificantofthestudents'

readinessforthecollege，whichisintendedtomeasuretheirknowledgeofthecurriculum.Thenextpurposeisaboutinformingstudentsaboutwhichcollegetoapplyandwhichprogramtostudyviaaskingaboutthestudents'

interest.Atthesametime，thiscanhelpcollegesanduniversitieshaveabasicunderstandingoftheirprospectivestudents'

academiccompetence.　　Asexpected，ACT，togetherwithSAT，hasbecomeacceptedasavitalelementoftheadmissionprocessbymostofthefour-yearinstitutionsofAmericanhighereducation.UnlikeSATwhichgainspopularityintheNortheastandontheWestcoast，ACThasadominantroleinthecollegesanduniversitiesoftheMidwestandSouth.AsreleasedbyACTin2011，thereare1.62milliontookthetestwhowanttocontinuetheirstudyinhighereducation.Thesecondpurposecanhelpcollegesanduniversitiesknowwhethertheyarepopularamongtheprospectivestudentsandwhatprogramstheydesiresothatsomeadjustmentscanbemadetoimprovetheirimages.

　　ScoresofACTandPercentofcollege-readinessfrom2011-2014

　　From2001to2014，thereisagradualincreaseinpercentofstudentswhotookACTasillustratedbyTable1.In2011，therewas49%ofthehighschoolgraduatestookpartinthistest，whichmeansabout322，000highschoolgraduates.In2014，thepercentroseto57%，whichis8%increase.ItindicatesthatthereisagrowingpopularityofACTamonghighschoolstudentsandAmericanfamilies.

　　Table1PercentofhighschoolgraduatestookACT

　　InTable2，itcanbeidentifiedthattherearesomevariationsofACTscorefrom2011to2014nationally.TheaveragescoreofEnglishof2011isthehighest，itstartedtodropfrom2012to2012，thoughthereisa0.1regainin2014.Intermsofreading，itisalmostthesameinthefouryears，exceptin2013itdropped21.1.AsforMathematicsandscience，thereisadecreasebothfrom2013.Thecompositescore，itremainedthesamein2011and2012，droppedto20.7in2013，andregainedto20.8in2014.

　　FromTable2，thepercentofcollegereadinessrevealsthatthereisabigdecreaseinreadingtestfrom52%to44%.Atthesametime，thereisanincreaseinScience，from20.9%in2011to37%in2014.Holistically，thepercentofcollege-readinessinMathematicsandScienceislowerthanthatinEnglishandReading，whichrequirescollegesanduniversitiestopaymoreattentiontothecultivationofMathematicsandScience.ThishasbeenwidelyfoundandrecognizedinSTEMeducation.

　　Table3providesadetailedpictureofACTinMississippi.Comparatively，theaveragescoreofEnglish，Reading，Mathematics，andScienceisfarbelowthatnationalaveragescore，whichresultsthelowcompositescore.InEnglish，thereisanincreaseof0.2from2014，remainingas18.8in2014.Intermsofreading，thereisagradualincreasestartingfrom18.8in2011to19.4in2014.ThereislessvariationinMathematicsfrom2012as18.3.ThoughcomparedwithnationalaveragescoreinScience，Mississippistilllaggedbehind，itcannotbedeniedthatthereisanincreasefrom18.7in2011，to18.9in2014.Onthewhole，thecompositescoreroseto19in2014.　　Intheaspectofcollege-readiness，thepercentremainssteadyinEnglish，ReadingandMathematicsfrom2011-2014，whileinSciencethereisanincrease，itroseto21%in2014.ItrevealsthatMississippiStatemayhaveimprovedinScienceinrecentyears.Researchersinhigheducationcantakethisintoaccounttodiscernthecontributingfactorsandatthesametimefindwaystoimproveallthefourtests.Atthesametime，inordertoprepareMississippistudentstocompeteinthenationaltalentmarketandeveninternationaltalentmarket，collegesanduniversitiesneedtofaceandaddressthedeficiency.

　　WhatACThascontributedtoAmericanhighereducation？

　　ACTcanberegardedastheassessmentofhighschoolgraduatesindependentlytodeterminewhetherthetesttakerisreadforcollegelife.Itismoreacademically-oriented，thusitiswidelyusedbycollegesanduniversitiesforadmission.Itisalsomorecognitiveability-oriented，thereforeitisoftenusedbysomeorganizationsorcollegesanduniversitiestodeterminethecandidates'

IQ.

　　Admission

　　Foradmissionofficersofcollegesanduniversities，theprimarytaskistoknowhowtoidentifywhethertheapplicantswillsucceedintheirstudies.Thisisbeneficialnotonlytoinstitutionsbutalsotothestudentsthemselves，becauseacademicfailurewillmakethemsuffermorethannotbeingadmitted.Evans（2013）claimedthattherefourcriteriaforadmission：

havingexceptionalacademicachievement，havingdiversebackground，beingofgreatcontributiontothesociety，andbeingstronglyloyaltotheinstitution.AlthoughACTisonlyoneofthefourcomponents，itcanensurethattheapplicantsmeetthefirstandimpressiverequirementofbeingabletosucceedatthedesiredinstitution.

　　TheinterviewedofficersdeclaredthatACTcanprovideacommonmetriconwhichtoassessstudentswithdifferentbackgroundsandhighschoolpreparation.WithoutsuchstandardtestlikeACT，itisextremelydifficultforcollegesanduniversitiestojudgethequalityofahighschoolcurriculumonlybytheirtranscripts.While，ACTscorecanworkasawaytoputallthestudentsonthesamescale.Inthisaspect，itcanhelpthestudentswhoareunderachieversinhighschoolhavethepromisingpotentialtosucceedincollegesstudies.What'

smore，ACTcanbeemployedasanindicatorforhowwellstudentswilldointheircomingcollegelives.TheybelievethathighachievecansucceedintermsofsatisfactoryGPAandpersistingfromyeartoyear.ThisviewpointissupportedbyKane（2006），hestatedthatthereisanoverlapbetweentestperformanceandtheircollegeoutcomeslikeGPAandretention.Similarly，NobleandSawyer（2002）identifiedintheirstudiesthatcompositescoreisusuallymoreaccurateatpredictingGPAofcollegestudy.However，EvansclaimedclaimedthatonlythescoresofEnglishandMathematicscanbeusedaspredicatorofGPAandretention，insteadofthescoresofallthesubjects.　　Cognitiveability

　　ManyresearchersfoundthattherearepsychometricsimilaritiesbetweenthemeasuresofacademicachievementandtheassessmentofIQbecausemanyIQtestsincludesubitems，likevocabulary，thataredependentontheknowledgethestudentshavebeenexposed.Coyle（2006）determinedthattherawscoresofACTaresignificantlypredicativeoftheassessmentofcognitiveability.Meanwhile，BaadeandSchoenberg（2004）madeameta-analysisoftherelationshipbetweenachievementtestandscoresonIQtestsandproposedthatthereisahighcorrelationbetweenthem.

　　Thiscorrelationisinstrumentalforresearchersinhighereducation.Tosomeextent，ACTcanfunctionasavaluabletoolforresearcherstoobtainanestimationofIQespeciallywhenhavingthetraditionalIQtestsisimpracticalandimpossibleforthem.ThefactisthatACTscoreshavebeenemployedasareplacementofIQtestsandwillcontinuetobeusedinthisway.

　　Disruptorinhighereducation

　　ThoughACThascontributedmuch，italsohasproducedsomedisruptionsinhighereducation.SomeresearchersdoubtedACT'

sroleinreadinessassessmentanditmayinvolveracialbias.

　　Collegereadiness

　　College-readinessbenchmarkssetupbyACTareusedtopredictwhetherastudenthas50%chanceofearningatleastaBorastudenthas75%chanceofearningatleastaCinhisorherfirst-yearcollegestudy.However，Heller（20