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600 Kids' Scores on ACT Rejected: Agency Overseeing College-Entrance Exam Says Schools, Students Didn't Start on Time

Posted on: Saturday, 3 June 2006, 00:00 CDT

By Jeff Long and Diane Rado, Chicago Tribune

Jun. 1--In news that cast a pall over their summer vacations, 627 students who recently took the ACT college-entrance exam at five Illinois high schools learned that their tests were discarded because administrators did not start the exam on time.

Under a new rule aimed at ensuring that students who take the crucial test do so under the same conditions, the exam should have begun at 9 a.m. The five schools, including four in the Chicago area, started later in the morning, officials said Wednesday.

At Julian High School in Chicago, 340 test results have been tossed out because officials there didn't begin testing until 9:58 a.m., according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

The mistake involved tests given April 26, prompting anger among many students, who worried that their college plans may be in jeopardy.

"It's a big deal," said Eric Bosma, 17, a junior at Harvard High School, in northwest suburban McHenry County, where 135 students' exams were disqualified. "You really need your test scores to prove your straight A's were accurate."

Harvard officials said they knew about the new starting-time requirement for the ACT and admitted they made a mistake. They sent out a letter last week notifying students of the problem.

"It's a rule," Harvard School District 50 spokesman Bill Clow said of the 9 a.m. start. "Obviously, we should know what the rules are. ... Our concern is, let's not punish 135 students. If the school or the administrators of the test made a mistake, fine. But let's not punish the kids."

Harvard officials have appealed ACT's decision. They have also asked the State Board of Education to intervene, Clow said.

Ed Colby, a spokesman for Iowa-based ACT Inc., said the 9 a.m. start is used to make sure students don't begin getting tired or hungry during the three-hour test. Students who begin taking the exam later than 9 a.m. could be unfairly penalized, he said.

Supt. Steve McCarty of Triopia District 27 in central Illinois said there were also concerns that students who started the exam earlier than others might text-message questions to those taking the test at a later time.

At Triopia High School in Concord, west of Springfield, 29 students began the test at 9:35 a.m. and were disqualified.

Other area schools where tests have been discarded are Northwest Suburban Academy in Arlington Heights, where seven students did not begin testing until between 9:50 and 10:45 a.m., and Manley Career Academy High School in Chicago, where 116 students were affected.

Harvard and state education officials said the mixup will not affect anyone's graduation.

But students who wanted to use ACT scores on their college applications will have to take the test again, not a pleasant thought for Harvard student Emily Nolen.

"The anticipation was just overwhelming," she said. "It was just a relief to be done with it. It stinks that I might have to take it again."

Tests started between 9:42 and 9:52 a.m. in six classrooms at Nolen's school, state education officials and Clow said.

School officials provided breakfast before the exam to help prepare the students.

"Fruit, things like that," Clow said. "A little fuel to get them going. Good idea. We probably should have timed it a little different."

Don Morgan, assistant principal at Manley, said he wasn't aware that a precise starting time was required.

"There never has been a problem with starting times in the past," he said.

His school also provided breakfast before the test.

Triopia's McCarty called the situation "a serious problem" that could affect his students' futures.

One student scored very high, 30, which the student might not be able to duplicate during a retest, he said.

The school got started later than 9 a.m. in part because the test was given off campus--a quieter location--and it "took awhile to get organized," McCarty said.

The students started at 9:22 a.m., he said, though the state gave a time of 9:35 a.m.

The district appealed to the ACT and to the State Board of Education with no success, McCarty said.

"The state board had very little sympathy," he said.

Officials said students could show up at testing centers June 10 to get on a waiting list, hoping for a spot to open.

After that, the next round of national ACT exams is Sept. 16. By then, though, many students already will have started applying to colleges.

Harvard student Bosma attended a seminar on taking the ACT and had completed workbooks every night for two weeks before the exam.

"Anger and just disbelief" was how he reacted when he learned his test results didn't count.

"It sounds really silly that it mattered what time you start," he said.

jjlong@tribune.com

drado@tribune.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, Chicago Tribune

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Source: Chicago Tribune

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