Juniors take mandated ACT exam
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If one were to walk into the halls of MHS on Wednesday morning from 8 to 1 PM, they would encounter an eerie silence throughout the building. This unusual phenomenon can be best elucidated by a nationally recognized standardized test: the ACT.
Approximately 500 juniors took the state-mandated standardized exam Wednesday morning, Richard Regina, senior principal, said.
The ACT is a four-hour exam testing students on English, mathematics, reading, science, and the optional writing test. Juniors took the ACT with writing, adding another 30 minutes to the total completion time.
All core sections on the exam are scored on a scale from one to 36 whereas the writing is scored on a scale from two to 12. The total score is calculated by averaging the individual sub-section scores.
Regina is the ACT Testing Coordinator for MHS. He and a few other members of the administration have conducted the annual exam for the past five years in order to better evaluate the college-readiness level of juniors as well as fulfill an application requirement that many colleges throughout the US consider.
“This is our fifth year planning the ACT,” Regina said. “We were ahead by a few years because we mandated the ACT two or three years before the state did.”
Students that took the ACT were allocated in a total of 30 classrooms: 12 on the first and second floors and 18 on the third, Regina added.
Furthermore, schedules were amended to reduce noise pollution in the halls of MHS. Freshman and sophomores attended a mandatory assembly in the theater during the ongoings of the ACT. Seniors, on the other hand, took a trip to Six Flags for the duration of the day.
The Junior ACT is a requirement set forth by the Missouri’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
Last year’s average score for the now senior class was a 24.1, Julia Rust, testing coordinator, said. According to ACT, the score places MHS above the national average of 21.
Sujal Yagnik, junior, took the mandated exam on Wednesday.
“It was a fine experience,” Yagnik said. “Overall, I felt like a great amount of preparation was definitely required to do well.”
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