News Local/State

Uncertainty Over Illinois’ Switch From ACT To SAT

By Dusty Rhodes, IPR Education Desk
 
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In Illinois, 11th graders are wondering whether they will take a new kind of college entrance exam this year. And the answer is: definitely maybe.

For 15 years, high school juniors in Illinois have taken the ACT test. But the State Board of Education recently voted to move to the SAT exam instead.

But last week ACT, Inc. filed a protest, which could trigger a reconsideration of the process. 

Both ACT, Inc. and the College Board, the company that runs the SAT, are reportedly revamping their tests to align, eventually, with the Common Core learning standards. So a new kind of test is on the horizon, no matter which company ends up with the state contract.

On the other hand, because of the budget impasse, the state of Illinois isn’t giving schools funding for any test this year. So it’s up to individual school districts to decide whether to foot the bill at all.