ACT and power outages

[snowbeltmom]

I just picked up oldest from taking the ACT to satisfy our state's end of year testing requirement. The power went out twice during the Science Section of the test. :glare:

 

Ds said the classroom had no windows and it was impossible to see without the lights. The class also had no wall clock (he also wasn't wearing a watch), but he didn't finish the section and he doesn't think that they were given additional time.

 

Ds said that when time was called, another student in the class yelled out and asked if they shouldn't get more time, but the proctor did not answer him.

 

Ds estimates that the time lost due to the power outage was only about 3 minutes total, but 3 minutes is a lot in these testing situations. He also can not say 100% for sure that they were not given that time back since he wasn't wearing a watch.

 

Just for future reference, what should the proctor do in a case like this? Should the kids get the time that was lost when they were unable to work?

 

I feel bad for the high school juniors taking the test today.

[regentrude]

I am not sure the proctor would even be allowed to adjust the time without risk of invalidating the test.

 

http://www.actstudent.org/testprep/taking/remedies.html

"ACT also takes steps that are intended to ensure standardized test administration. If events occur that cause testing at a test center to be cancelled or interrupted, involve a mistiming on any part of the test, result in a deviation from standard testing procedures, raise concerns about possible advance access to test content by any examinee(s), or otherwise disrupt or compromise the testing process, ACT will examine the situation and determine whether action is warranted, including nonscoring of answer documents or cancellation of scores. If ACT, in its sole discretion, determines action is warranted, each affected examinee will be offered the option to retest at no additional fee (normally on a future national test date). If the examinee chooses not to retest and the answer document is not scored or scores are cancelled, the examinee may request a refund of the test fee instead. If ACT offers a retest and an examinee selects that option, the examinee must retake all four multiple-choice tests to produce a valid Composite score. If the Writing Test was taken on the original test date, the examinee must retake the Writing Test in addition to the four multiple-choice tests to produce a valid Combined English/Writing score. These remedies are the exclusive remedies available to examinees affected by disruptions or compromises in the testing process."

Edited April 14, 2012 by regentrude

[snowbeltmom]

Ds spoke with a couple of his friends who are juniors and took the test in different classrooms. They also do not think that they were given extra time to finish. The lights flickering between power outages was also distracting.

 

I will have ds let his friends know about their potential options. This was a practice run for ds, but he said his friends were not happy - and I don't blame them.

[Vida Winter]

Ugh - I am so sorry that this happened. The science portion was particularly hard today, if it was what dd had. She typically did very well on sample ACT science but started to run out of time on today's exam. To have a power outage twice would have been terribly distracting.

 

I hope that the ACT organization will help you out with an acceptable solution.