Entrance exams like the ACT and SAT have gone through significant changes in recent years. While the redesigned SAT is receiving a great deal of attention, the ACT will also begin to debut a new format in the spring of 2015.
One of the major innovations on the ACT will be the availability of optional constructed response tests as a supplement to the standard exam. The constructed response format will initially be available as a special supplement at select high schools that participate in online testing. Each supplemental test will assess a student’s knowledge in a given subject, with full, national implementation to follow in the coming years.
There are three things every student should know about ACT constructed response tests.
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1. Constructed response questions are open-ended. The opposite of constructed response is selected response — or in the case of the ACT, multiple choice. Selected response questions essentially provide you with the correct answer hidden among several incorrect alternatives. It is your job to discern the right option.
Constructed response, on the other hand, requires you to generate the correct answer on your own. As you will see below, the strategies used to answer a constructed response item are similar to those needed to correctly answer many multiple-choice questions.
In truth, constructed response items are not entirely new to the exam. For example, the essay is a constructed response problem that calls for a detailed answer to a relatively short question.
The novel part of the new ACT format will be the diversity of items. You may face fill-in-the-blank problems or short answer questions, for instance. You will not be asked to write multiple-page-long essays, but you will need to parse more complex questions for well-supported answers.
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2. The supplemental tests are optional. Most students who take the ACT in 2015 or 2016 will only encounter multiple-choice items. Even if the new format is available where you live, the supplemental tests will be optional.
Before you register for the constructed response exams, determine whether the colleges you are interested in will require or consider them. If you do not see the supplemental ACT tests listed on the admissions website for your favorite school, call and ask.
Cost is another consideration. Although the price per supplemental test has not yet been finalized, the new exams will not be included in the standard ACT fee. If your application is already strong, there may be little advantage to incurring the additional expense.
3. You can begin to prepare now. As discussed above, constructed response questions are not new to the world of standardized testing. There are a number of useful strategies that can be employed when answering them, and you can begin to master these techniques now.
One such approach is known as RACE, which stands for restate, answer, cite and explain. Each element refers to one step that is needed to construct a strong response.
Restate refers to the necessity of rewording the question to demonstrate your comprehension. For instance, a question about a passage might ask, “What is John’s motivation for turning down the promotion?”
Your RACE answer might begin with, “John’s motivation for turning down the promotion is his dislike of the manager to whom he would report.”
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The cite portion of your answer would refer to a particular line number from the passage. This type of answer is analogous to a multiple-choice item that asks, “Which line best supports the following statement?”
The final steps, answer and explain, simply require you to draw a line from the citation to your reasoning. You will have to determine what about that particular line that made it evidence-worthy, and the point it proves.
There are other acronyms for similar strategies. However, these strategies all share similar footing in focusing on textual support for answers.
As more detail about the new format becomes available, other approaches — especially for math and science questions — may emerge. Until then, focus on fundamentals, and investigate whether your short-list schools will require the ACT supplemental tests.
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