Oklahoma public high
school juniors can take ACT or SAT free under State Department of Education
program
OKLAHOMA
CITY
(Jan. 10, 2017) – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister announced
today that Oklahoma public school districts will have the opportunity this year
to choose whether their 11th-grade students can take the ACT or the
SAT college-entrance exam free of charge.
This
initiative is an extension of a 2015-2016 pilot program widely embraced across
the state last spring, when all but two of Oklahoma’s 459 public high schools
provided the ACT for juniors. As a result, 79 percent of 11th
graders – or 35,477 of 45,071 students – took the test, compared to a little
more than half who had taken the exam the year before.
Giving
schools the opportunity to administer the free tests onsite and during the
school day eliminates cost and transportation barriers for students who
otherwise might never have had access to the college- and career-readiness
exam. An ACT or SAT score allows a student to earn college credit at a reduced
cost while still in high school through concurrent enrollment and is a
requirement for acceptance into colleges and universities.
“Access
to the ACT and SAT opens up an on-ramp to postsecondary education for all Oklahoma
public school students, many of whom might not otherwise consider college to be
a possibility,” said Hofmeister. “By easing the path from K-12 to college or
CareerTech, we can help ensure that Oklahomans will be competitive in our
rapidly changing, technology-driven global marketplace.”
Hofmeister
said the assessment program shares the same goals as Launch Oklahoma, Gov. Mary
Fallin’s initiative to increase the number of Oklahomans with postsecondary
degrees, certificates or credentials from 40 percent to 70 percent by the year
2025.
Participation
in the program is optional this spring. The Oklahoma State Board of Education
has recommended that a college- and career-readiness exam be a requirement for
high school testing beginning in the 2017-2018 school year.
Pending
approval by the Legislature and Governor, the ACT and SAT tests replace
end-of-instruction (EOI) exams that were repealed last year in legislation
signed by Gov. Fallin.
The
ACT/SAT program is free for schools and students and is funded through dollars
already allocated for assessments through the OSDE, which estimates it will
save $2.4 million annually by administering the ACT or SAT instead of the EOIs.
The
OSDE is issuing a survey to districts in which they may select which test they
will make available to their students this spring.
“Offering
districts the choice of the ACT or SAT gives more control back to our
communities,” Hofmeister said. “Districts are more likely to know the
individual needs of their students and which tool will best serve their
students.
Oklahoma
students have traditionally chosen to take the ACT to fulfill the entrance
requirements of colleges and universities. The number of Oklahoma high school
graduates in 2016 who took the ACT was 32,854, or 82 percent. The number of
Oklahoma high school graduates in 2016 who took the SAT was 1,503, or less than
4 percent.
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