(Education Week)–
ACT Inc., announced Monday that it will provide, for the first time, accommodations for English-learners who take its college-entrance exam.
The options will become available in the fall of 2017. Students will have to apply for them through their school counselor’s office. The accommodations announced Monday include:
- More time on the test: up to time-and-a-half
- Use of an approved word-to-word bilingual glossary (one that has no word definitions)
- Testing in a non-distracting environment (i.e., in a separate room)
- Test instructions provided in the student’s native language (including Spanish and a limited number of other languages initially)
In the past, the Iowa-based testing company has not offered accommodations based solely on a student’s limited English proficiency. The company said in a statement that the purpose of the new accommodations is to “help ensure that the ACT scores earned by English-learners accurately reflect what they have learned in school.” Students who are granted permission to use them will be assured that the scores they earn on the ACT can be used for college admission. Go to the article
