Social Studies Middle School Guide

Canyons School District

Instructional Supports Department

ACT CONNECTIONS

Critical Actions for Educators ------------------------------- ● Review the ACT Connections document.

The Utah State Board of Education’s goal is to increase the number of students earning an ACT composite score of 18 or higher by 2022. The desire to raise Utah’s ACT average is rooted in the vision to improve postsecondary and career readiness for all Utah students. To reach the goal, it is essential that administrators, educators, parents, and students know that all grade levels and contents play an important part in ensuring college and career readiness. The ACT Connections document provides a snapshot of the academic skills students need to meet or exceed expectations for college and career readiness as assessed by the ACT, while also highlighting the important connections between ACT College and Career Readiness Standards and Utah Core State Standards. General Information: ● •The ACT is a summative assessment used by postsecondary institutions and employers to measure college and career readiness. ● The ACT as administered through state-funded testing for all public high school juniors in Utah consists of four multiple-choice subtests (English, mathematics, reading, and science) and participation in the writing test, as directed by the Utah State Board of Education. ● The development of academic skills necessary to be successful on the ACT extends across all grade levels. ● This document is not about “test prep;” it is about the progression of learning across grade levels and the connections between Utah expectations for what students should know in each subject each year and ACT expectations for what students should know by the end of high school. ● This document highlights some of the connections between the Utah Core State Standards and the ACT assessment, but it is not an exhaustive document.

● Embed ACT connections into everyday teaching.

● High School

Teachers only - plan time for ACT prep with students utilizing Schmoop.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

ACT Connections Document

Crosswalk between Utah State Standards and ACT college readiness indicators

Schmoop ACT Test Prep - for High School Students

Free, unlimited, and secure access to ACT test prep. Includes diagnostic exams, full-length practice exams, review questions, topic-specifc drills.