Kirkwood High School Wants to Cover Cost of ACT
If approved, a plan to provide the college-entrance exam to all Kirkwood High School juniors could begin as early as next year.
Kirkwood High School administrators hope to offer the ACT test during the regular school day to all juniors, beginning next year.
The ACT is one of the most widely accepted college-entrance exams that high school juniors take each year. The test is normally offered only on Saturdays at designated testing centers and students must pay for it themselves – the registration fee for the basic test is $34 this year.
But KHS principal Mike Havener wants every Kirkwood junior to take the test for free, in their own school, during the regular school day.
“My goal is to provide opportunities for all of our students to be successful,” Havener said. “We are telling our students that we are preparing them for college – we need to back that up.”
Havener said administrators made a formal request to the ACT and are waiting to hear back. If the request is approved, the school board still must approve funding.
The estimated annual cost is about $17,000, he said. That would pay for the test for the entire junior class, which averages about 430 students. In addition, ACT would provide reports on the test results, which could help teachers adjust their lesson plans.
Many Kirkwood students already take the ACT and some take it multiple times, but Havener said that as many as 20 to 30 percent of students don’t take the test at all, for a variety of reasons, including cost.
“This would give all the students at least one opportunity to take it for free,” Havener said.
He said he hoped it would inspire some students to go on to college who might not otherwise have considered it. It also might give students confidence that they could score better on a subsequent test, he said.
David Cort
5:14 pm on Thursday, February 2, 2012
You are kidding, right? Our education system has already managed to dumb down a high school diploma to the point of uselessness. Are we trying to make 900 a GOOD Sat score?
Jeannine Floyd
10:35 am on Friday, February 3, 2012
So the ACT and SAT are both offered about 8 times during the year. That is 16 tests at $34 each. Will it be mandated that each student take these tests so that Kirkwood students look like there average tests scores are some of the best in the state? Is that what is behind this?
Don't you think a student would take a test and college more seriously if he had something invested in it beginning with their tests to get into college? A lawn mowing job or a babysitting job would do the trick in a town like Kirkwood. Maybe it would be a good time to start putting down the games and Facebook and take on some ownership for their future. Kind of a novel idea for our entitlement society.
Lisa Payne-Naeger
9:11 am on Saturday, February 4, 2012
Thanks, Kirkwood Socialist State! Let's use valuable class time to mandate across the board testing for a percentage of kids whom will never and/or should never go to college. Also, let's mandate that every child take the ACT when they are planning to attend out of state colleges that may not accept ACT as a valid entrance test. Also, by mandating participation in this test, by those who may not be serious about taking it or need it, you are lowering the overall national scoring. Brilliant! Who's brain child was this and what was your ACT score?
Laura Hazan
10:58 am on Saturday, February 4, 2012
Mr. Cort - not sure what your comment about SAT score has to do with this ACT article. Yes, a 900 is a lousy SAT score, but why not try the test and see if one can do well.
Ms. Floyd - My understanding would be Kirkwood would offer it once to the juniors, as they do with the PSAT and PLAN test, not 8 times a year. Would it really be the worst thing if our ACT average went up by virtue of offering this test to all juniors? Why not boost our numbers if worthy, many organizations do the same for less positive reason. There are plenty of kids at KHS who work hard academically, athletically, in their clubs, musically and have outside employment. Not every 16 year is an entitled brat, and frankly I'm tired of today's adults saying they are - my son and his friends are already productive member of society. There are also some who work hard and still struggle financially, right now Mother's Club tries to fund some of the cost of ACT and SAT for kids who cannot afford it.
Ms. Payne-Naeger - In today's academic environment virtually all colleges nationwide take results from either SAT or ACT. And is it not possible that maybe 1 or 2 students, who were not otherwise sure they were college worthy, could be inspired by their ACT score to try to attend college? Why does this have to be a negative result?
I think KHS is making the right move with this request. There are some things I think the district should not be paying for, but this is not one of them.
Terry Sibbitts
9:49 am on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Personally, I think this is a wise investment in the education process. I know many get upset when the school board spends money on "non-tangible" investments. I have a few sets of college applications under my belt and have never encountered a school that could not convert the ACT score to its SAT equivilant. To apply to a college or university a studnent must take one of these tests. Why not remove a simple obstacle in the process and open the opportunity to see what they could do on a national scale to all.