ACT announces adjustments to the Writing Test

Like chess players moving carefully around the board, the ACT responded yesterday to College Board plans to revise the Writing section of the SAT by announcing a few minor adjustments of its own. 

In a carefully worded news release, the ACT describes changes starting in 2015 as “designed to improve readiness and help students plan for the future in areas important to success after high school.”  And as one part of the plan, the ACT proposes to tweak the optional Writing Test in small—possibly unnoticeable—ways.

“Change to the ACT is nothing new,” said Jed Applerouth, founder and CEO of Applerouth Tutoring Services.  “The ACT generally tends to move discretely, incrementally, and without fanfare.  The College Board typically gets itself into hot water with its well-publicized test overhauls.”   

  

Currently the prompt for the 30-minute ACT Writing Test probes an issue relevant to high school students and asks test-takers to write about their perspective on the issue presented.  Students may choose to support one of two positions or they are free to develop a response based on their own ideas.

The example provided on the ACT website asks test-takers to respond to proposals to extend high school to five years.  Other ACT writing prompts asked whether high school students should be required to wear uniforms or whether students should be allowed to select the books they read for English class.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the new ACT prompts will be more “nuanced.”

“It won’t be ‘this side or that side,’” explained Edward R. Colby, a spokesperson for the ACT, in an interview with the Chronicle. “The question will ask students for multiple perspectives and support. It will be a more-complex prompt than what we’re delivering now.”

Student essays will then be evaluated in four areas of writing competency:  ideas and analysis, development and support, organization, and language use.  The test will measure ability to assess positions on a complex issue and generate their own analysis based on “reasoning, knowledge, and experience.”

While the 1-to-36 scoring scale will remain the same, students will be provided with an English Language Arts Score which will combine achievement on the English, reading, and writing portions of the ACT for those who take all three test sections.

These relatively minor adjustments in the ACT, set to be implemented a year earlier than modifications planned for the SAT, appear designed to counter the College Board’s upgraded and enhanced writing assignment scheduled to go on line in spring of 2016.  

In the new “optional” SAT Essay section, which may grow to be as long as 50 minutes, students will be asked to analyze a “founding document” to determine how an author builds an argument to persuade an audience through the use of evidence and reasoning.

“The College Board trumped the ACT Inc., with its much improved and more rigorous essay,” explained Applerouth.  “The ACT always required students to address multiple perspectives on an argument but will now increase the difficulty level of the topics.  This will push students to a higher level of analysis, in an effort to keep up with the new SAT.”

While the College Board has been largely playing a reactive game by implementing changes designed to make it increasingly similar to the ACT, the folks in Iowa continue to gobble up market share by taking over additional state-wide assessment programs in Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, and Wisconsin.  A total of 17 states will now require all high school juniors in public schools to take the ACT before graduation, which is bound to increase its popularity for college admissions decisions.

And the ACT has the jump on the SAT when it comes to technology.  The digital ACT has already been administered in sections of the country and will be offered as an option to select schools participating in state and district testing starting in 2015.

“The two testing giants are scrutinizing each other’s competitive moves,” concluded Applerouth.  “These two players are locked in a competitive dance, one leading to a greater degree of convergence than we have hitherto seen.”

But at the end of the day, students who will be immediately affected by these changes should keep in mind that an impressive number of colleges are test-optional and among those requiring tests, most don’t even require the optional Writing section of the ACT.

11 amazing ‘last minute’ scholarship opportunities

These 'last minute' scholarships may take a little research and persistence

Even if it’s a little late in the game and many scholarship deadlines are long past, there are still a few organizations interested in giving money away to college-bound seniors starting this fall.

It just requires persistence to find the opportunities and some patience to sort out the requirements. 

And be aware that late-deadline competitions can sometimes be little more than lotteries requiring applicants to  sign-up for websites and mailing lists run by sponsoring organizations.

Nevertheless, extra money usually comes in handy, and once you get good at these things, the work involved to enter is fairly trivial.

So for those of you who haven’t totally checked out for the summer, here are 10 late-deadline scholarship competitions:

1. Abbott and Fenner Business Solutions offers $1,000 scholarships based on responses to an essay question that may sound very familiar if you’ve just completed the college application process.  The contest is open to all high school juniors and seniors as well as student currently registered in any accredited postsecondary institution.  Deadline:  June 14, 2014.
   
   
2. The American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) is offering a second “second chance” to win $1,000.  High school seniors must be willing to read an essay about fire sprinklers and take a quiz on what they’ve read.  For each question answered correctly, applicants will receive one entry into a drawing for one of five scholarships.  And if you miss a question, you can try again!  Deadline:  August 27, 2014.
   
   
3. The Ayn Rand Institute sponsors a number of essay contests, the last of which is based on Atlas Shrugged.  High school seniors, undergrads and graduate students are invited to submit an essay on one of three topics provided on the website.  And the money is quite substantial ranging from $50 (50 awards) to $10,000 (one award).  Deadline:  October 24, 2014.
   
4. The Big Sun Organization helps young athletes by offering one or more scholarships to deserving students based on a short essay answering a 3-part question.  All athletes are eligible to apply regardless of sport.  Deadline:  June 20, 2014.
   
5. The College is Power (CIP) scholarship is open to students 17 or older who plan to start or who are enrolled in a program of higher education within the next 12 months.  To enter, students must complete an online application, which includes a 150-word essay.  Deadline:  August 31, 2014.
   
6. College Jump Start is a scholarship offered to high school (10^th-12^th grade), college or non-traditional students.  The application requires an online application and a 250-word essay. Financial need is not considered.  Deadline:  October 17, 2014.
   
7. College Prowler offers a $2,000 “No Essay” Scholarship to any student planning to enroll in college within the next 12 months and willing to register for a free account on the Prowler website.  Winners will be determined by random drawing.  Next deadline:  June 30, 2014.
   
8. The Educational Research Center of America (ERCA) Community Contribution Scholarship competition is open to high school students who recognized a need or problem in their community, determined a way to address this need or solve this problem, and worked to put an action plan in place.  For the 2014-2015 academic school year, ERCA will be awarding $25,000 to 18 students throughout the country. The top prize will receive a $5,000 scholarship, two runners up will receive a $2,500 scholarship and 15 students will be awarded with a $1,000 scholarship for higher education expenses.  Deadline:  July 11, 2014.
   
9. The Family Travel Forum Teen Travel Writing Scholarships require applicants to submit 600-word blogs about their community and why tourists should visit there.  In addition to travel prizes, scholarships range from $200 to $1,000.  Applicants must sign up or the MyFamilyTravels.com community before submitting, and must be attending grades 8-12 (ages 13-18).  Graduating seniors are only eligible if they submit a completed travel blog on or before June 27, 2014.  Deadline (for all others):  July 27, 2014.
   
10. The Gen and Kelly Tanabe Scholarship is targeted to high school, undergrad, and graduate students and is based on a 250-word personal statement.  Applicants are encouraged to reuse an essay that was written in class, for college admission, or for another scholarship completion.  Deadline:  July 31, 2014.
    
11. The Joe Foss Institute currently has two scholarship contests open—an essay competition with a summer deadline and a video competition with a fall deadline.  Both offer winners very generous scholarships.  First deadline:  July 13, 2014.

10 key ways to predict success in college

According to a report compiled by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), college success is just as much about studying hard as about simply showing up for class in high school.

Taking the findings of more than 80 research studies, AIR has come up with a series of “indicators, predictors, and other potential factors” targeted to identifying student skills, behaviors, and characteristics that might help parents and educators gauge the likelihood of student success in college.

And this information not only supports the work of college advisers but can also give high school students transitioning to college a “heads up” about what they need to do in order to graduate on time and achieve their educational goals.

According to AIR, “If postsecondary predictors are used collectively, states, districts, and schools can develop self-assessment tools or checklists that can serve as personal tracking guides for students as they progress through school.”  

It’s important to note that the research reviewed was “correlational” and not “causal.”  In other words, indicators, predictors, and other potential factors should not be considered causes of future outcomes.  Instead, these ten factors are more accurately “related” to future success in college:

• Missing no more than 10 percent of school days per grade level
• No more than one failure of 9th grade subjects
• Completing pre-calculus or calculus by the 12th grade
• 3.0+ high school GPA
• Scoring a 3 or higher on AP exams or a 4 or higher on IB exam
• Participation in dual enrollment programming
• Few school transfers between grades
• Passing state exams
• Participation in summer bridge programs, school-year transition courses, and/or early assessment and intervention programs
• Participation in multiyear college-readiness programs, embedded college counseling and college-readiness lessons

The same study suggests that once enrolled in college, students on the road to success typically complete general education classes without the need for remediation within the first two years of college, attend full time as defined by earning 30 credits within the first year, participate in college orientation programs and extracurricular activities, work less than 15 hours per week, maintain a 3.0 GPA or better, and have high educational expectations.

More information and a list of specific citations are available on the AIR website.

13 ‘selective’ colleges where women have the advantage in admissions

Harvey Mudd College

For 35 years, women have outnumbered men in U.S. colleges and universities.  In fact, until very

recently, the gap between male and female college enrollment has been steadily widening.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, women became the majority in 1979 and for the past decade have accounted for about 57 percent of students enrolled at degree-granting institutions.  This gender gap remains consistent across many kinds of students at many different kinds of schools including community college as well as private nonprofit colleges.  

It makes sense.  In every year since 1976, women have completed high school at a higher rate than men.  And they transitioned to college in higher numbers.

Specifically, young women on average comprised 58 percent of applicants to four-year colleges for fall 2012 admission.

Yet despite national demographics suggesting a glut in the market for prospective female applicants, a number of selective colleges and universities still have a hard time attracting women.   

And at some of these schools the balance of power tilts toward females, insofar as they are admitted at a higher rate to compensate for a shortage of men on campus.

With the help of Jon Boeckenstedt, associate vice president for enrollment management at DePaul University, and his "tableau" analytics, here are 12 colleges where young women make up a minority of applicants and have an advantage in admissions (these numbers have been updated from College Navigator for fall 2013 admissions):

• Olin College of Engineering:  9% male applicants admitted vs. 38% female applicants admitted
• Harvey Mudd College:  13% vs. 32%
• Babson College:  22% vs. 38%
• CalTech:  8% vs. 17%
• Carnegie Mellon University:  21% vs. 33%
• Georgia Tech:  52% vs. 60%
• MIT:  6% vs. 13%
• RPI:  39% vs. 47%
• University of Michigan:  30% vs. 37%
• Bucknell University:  27% vs. 32%
• Lafayette College:  32% vs. 37%
• Case Western Reserve:  40% vs. 44%
• Cornell University:  14% vs. 17%

And even when admissions offices try to thwart the demographics of an applicant pool that is biased toward males by admitting a higher percent of females, yields (percent of admitted students who actually enroll) may be frustrating and perpetuate the campus imbalance (these numbers are from College Navigator):

• Olin:  64% of the admitted males enrolled vs. 58% of the admitted females
• Babson:  29% vs. 28%
• CalTech:  47% vs. 37%
• CMU:  32% vs. 28%
• Georgia Tech:  38% vs. 38%
• MIT:  75% vs. 68%
• RPI:   22% vs. 19%
• University of Michigan:  41% vs. 39%
• Bucknell:  41% vs. 39%
• Lafayette:  28% vs. 27%
• Case Western Reserve:  16% vs. 16%
• Cornell:  52% vs. 51%

At the end of the day, some institutions and programs are just more appealing to men than others. 

But for women seeking a small advantage in admissions, these numbers and outcomes may be worth considering.