ACT Writing problems?

[Faithr]

Anyone seen this Washington Post article?  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/02/12/act-essay-scores-are-inexplicably-low-causing-uproar-among-college-bound-students/

 

My older kids took the SAT but with all the dickering they are doing to it, I thought maybe we'd go the ACT route.  Now this.  Sigh.  I hate standardized testing!

 

 

[Haiku]

None of the colleges my dd is interested in require the writing portion. None of the schools my oddest dd looked at required it, either. One admissions officer told us that the school recognizes that the ACT/SAT essay is not reflective of overall writing ability.

[OnMyOwn]

It looks like they recently changed the essay section. I just looked on their website and I don't think the new essay is that much harder, but the format is different from what my kids are used to. Thanks for posting this because they are both taking the ACT in April and it will really help to study from the new format. Our prep book still has the old format.

 

http://www.actstudent.org/writing/sample/

[Guest ewatson]

My son recently took the ACT and did very poorly on the writing section. That Washington Post article helped me to understand what was going on! I have been looking over the new essay prompts, and I can see how it would confuse students. It's just not your standard argument essay.

 

I did find this blog post by one of those $300/hour tutors (can anyone really be worth $300/hour??) that I found very clear and helpful: http://www.juliomachadoprep.com/?p=60

 

Also, this is my first post on this website, and it is very nice to meet all of you!

 

- Erin Watson

Edited February 26, 2016 by ewatson

[clementine]

My son recently took the ACT and did very poorly on the writing section. That Washington Post article helped me to understand what was going on! I have been looking over the new essay prompts, and I can see how it would confuse students. It's just not your standard argument essay.

 

I did find this blog post by one of those $300/hour tutors (can anyone really be worth $300/hour??) that I found very clear and helpful: http://www.juliomachadoprep.com/?p=60

 

Also, this is my first post on this website, and it is very nice to meet all of you!

 

- Erin Watson

Welcome!!  

[Denise in IN]

My son recently took the ACT and did very poorly on the writing section. That Washington Post article helped me to understand what was going on! I have been looking over the new essay prompts, and I can see how it would confuse students. It's just not your standard argument essay.

 

I did find this blog post by one of those $300/hour tutors (can anyone really be worth $300/hour??) that I found very clear and helpful: http://www.juliomachadoprep.com/?p=60

 

Also, this is my first post on this website, and it is very nice to meet all of you!

 

- Erin Watson

Thanks for linking this article - he has some good tips.  I'm having a hard time finding direction/help for the new ACT writing.

 

Welcome to the board!

[Luckymama]

Dd is a good test-taker and a very strong student. She scored very, very high on ACT English and Reading. And she scored 21 and 19 on the new writing section.

 

I told her not to worry. ACT writing does not count in any score and will probably be ignored. Her regular writing will show what she can do.

[Jilly]

I don't know if anyone saw this but I wanted to link it here. ACT is revising the writing score scale. It will now be graded on a 2-12 scale. 

 

http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/act-will-change-scoring-scale-for-writing-test/112468

[Dmmetler]

The funny thing is that my 11 yr old, who went in cold with no prep for the writing test, actually did pretty well on the ACT writing, in the same range as her Reading and only slightly below her English. Maybe it helps if you haven't done much formal writing instruction yet? Or maybe it's just that she knew it didn't count, and therefore didn't get stressed out over it?

[JeanM]

Dd is a good test-taker and a very strong student. She scored very, very high on ACT English and Reading. And she scored 21 and 19 on the new writing section.

 

I told her not to worry. ACT writing does not count in any score and will probably be ignored. Her regular writing will show what she can do.

 

:iagree:

 

My ds, who will be a senior in the fall, is in the same position. Very high scores, high composite, but very low essay writing. I think in light of the fact that the essay is changing *again*, that it really is not going to be a major factor. At least that is our hope!!

 

Also, for those who are planning to take the ACT next year (or later) be very careful about all test prep materials (books, websites, etc.). Since the essay has changed so often, there are lots of books and websites that have outdated information on ACT essay prep.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

The funny thing is that my 11 yr old, who went in cold with no prep for the writing test, actually did pretty well on the ACT writing, in the same range as her Reading and only slightly below her English. Maybe it helps if you haven't done much formal writing instruction yet? Or maybe it's just that she knew it didn't count, and therefore didn't get stressed out over it?

Or maybe it was just the graders who graded it... Who knows? There are reports of rescores increasing the writing score 10 points. I've heard of scanning issues and other errors. Some people are getting writing scores more than 20 points lower than their composite and subsections. Some people with crazy low scores had previous high ACT writing scores, even with the new format. They also had 5s on AP exams.

 

Something is amiss with some of the scores...

[swimmermom3]

We've had other threads on this with numerous cases of higher ACT scores and really low writing scores.

 

As Kinsa pointed out, our experience was that none of the eight schools that accepted ds paid any attention to that score. His grades, AP English Lang and Lit scores, personal essays, and the 34 on Reading and 35 on English subsections of ACT told a different story.

 

 

[Woodland Mist Academy]

Is there any reason to continue to register for the ACT with writing? If schools just disregard it anyway, does it make sense to take it? It seems like such a gamble given the scoring issues.

 

ETA: Many of the schools my daughter is interested in are no longer requiring writing scores. It doesn't even appear to be recommended. Should we take admissions at their word or is this another case of "not required" actually meaning "do it or forget any chance of being admitted!"

Edited August 8, 2016 by Woodland Mist Academy

[Haiku]

ETA: Many of the schools my daughter is interested in are no longer requiring writing scores. It doesn't even appear to be recommended. Should we take admissions at their word or is this another case of "not required" actually meaning "do it or forget any chance of being admitted!"

 

I have talked to three schools about it. All of them said, "Don't bother. We don't look at it."

 

Also, my oldest dd's college did not require it. She didn't take it.