The State Board of Education will offer the ACT or the American College Test to all 11th graders in Missouri for free.
Communications Coordinator for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Sarah Potter said, providing the test for free will give students the opportunity to move towards a post-secondary education.
“We need to make sure students are leaving K-12 prepared for whatever they want to do college or career so the ACT gives them a good bench mark on a national scale of how prepared they are to take on college course work,” Potter said.
Potter said offering the ACT for free will be a win-win situation for both the parent and the student involved.
“It gives them an idea of what future career they might consider and parents love it because they were having to pay for the test and now they’re getting one of those admissions of the test off their plate,” Potter said.
Community Relations Director Michelle Baumstark said administering the ACT for free benefits school districts as well as students.
“All districts will be benefiting from the opportunity to have their students take the ACT as part of the assessments that are done for high school students,” Baumstark said.
She said students who may not have had the opportunity to take the test will now have the same opportunities as other students.
“Certainly it will be able to provide opportunities to our students that they would not maybe previously of had,” Baumstark said.
Baumstark also said the Columbia School District is encouraging more students to take advantage of the ACT, because it provides them with scholarship opportunities and encourages students to explore post-secondary options.
Potter said the change is a part of the Missouri Department’s Elementary and Secondary Education’s long-term goal of becoming a top 10 state in education by the year 2020.
All 11th graders will take the test during the school day on April 28 with a scheduled makeup day on May 12 for students who are unable to attend.
