ACT, Inc.

Anyone who has ever attended a public or private high school in the United States understands what the letters ACT represent. In fact, sometime about the Junior year of high school those three little letters can strike fear into the hearts of the bravest college applicants. ACT, Inc. has provided standardized testing services to students, parents and colleges for 50 years. Although their 4 part marathon college entrance exam test is used by nearly all colleges and universities throughout the United States as a standardized representation of academic excellence of the students who take it, ACT, Inc., offers a number of other career planning and college preparatory services to assist people of all ages in meeting their professional and personal goals. Their offerings fall under their ACT Advantage program.

The ACT Advantage DISCOVER program is an on-line based career planning program developed to serve the interests of students aged middle school through adult hood. Through a series of interesting inventory tests taken on-line, Discover guides students through the thoughtful process of considering the next step after high school. Inventory tests explore personal likes and dislikes in regards to various activities, rating of abilities, and an evaluation of work related values. Data results are shared instantly through graphs and explanations. Students may also access current information on potential college majors, colleges and careers that line up with their interests. Discover is appropriate to help students prepare for:

•    four-year college
•    two-year college
•    professional/graduate school
•    career/technical training
•    military service
•    immediate employment

The ACT Advantage EXPLORE test is a special evaluation tool designed for 8th and 9th graders. True to its name the test is designed to aid students in exploring career possibilities. Explore test results demonstrate a student’s strengths and weaknesses in four core subject areas: English, Mathematics, Reading and Science. According to ACT, the Explore test can help parents identify if their student is on the right path for future college entrance. This test can be ordered from ACT’s website and arrives in paper format to your home along with helpful scoring information.

ACT Advantage’s next step in the college bound process is the PLAN test. This pre-ACT test is specifically designed for 10th grade students to measure their preparedness for the official ACT college entrance exam. PLAN is typically administered the fall of the sophomore year allowing students to identify strengths and weaknesses in their academic assessment by providing an estimated ACT composite score. PLAN provides evaluation in the areas of Math, Reading, English and Science and is administered through standard practices of paper test and bubble sheet answers. Parents can order the PLAN test from the ACT website.

Additionally, ACT advantage offers an educational video library service appropriate for students aged pre-K to high school. Videos are produced by well known companies such as PBS, Schlessinger, Disney, NEST Family Classics and Scholastic and cover topics in the areas of Business, Careers and Vocational Training, History, Language Arts and Communication, Math, Science, Social Studies, the Arts, Wellness and Life Skills. The ACT Advantage library videos are rented straight from the website for $7.00 for the first video and $4.00 for each additional one. Payments are made at the ACT Advantage secure website. Shipping charges are always free.

For more information regarding all ACT now offers parents and students with their ACT Advantage program visit their website at www.actadvantage.org and read the reviews from the Crew.