Technical Manual ® The ACT www.act.org ACT endorses the Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education and the Code of Professional Responsibilities in Educational Measurement, guides to the conduct of those involved in educational testing. ACT is committed to ensuring that each of its testing programs upholds the guidelines in each Code. © 2014 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved. 2464 Contents Figures ............................................................................................................................................................................... iv Tables ................................................................................................................................................................................. vi Preface ............................................................................................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1 The ACT ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 ACT’s Mission ............................................................................................................................................................ 1 Overview and Purpose of the ACT ........................................................................................................................... 1 Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education and Code of Professional Responsibilities in Educational Measurement .......... 3 Philosophical Basis for the ACT Tests ....................................................................................................................... 3 The Population Served by the ACT .......................................................................................................................... 4 Chapter 2 The ACT College Readiness Assessment .................................................................................................. 5 Description of the ACT Tests .................................................................................................................................... 5 The English Test .................................................................................................................................................. 5 The Mathematics Test ......................................................................................................................................... 6 The Reading Test ................................................................................................................................................. 6 The Science Test .................................................................................................................................................. 6 The Writing Test (optional) ................................................................................................................................ 7 Test Development Procedures for Multiple-Choice Tests ......................................................................................... 7 Reviewing Test Specifications ............................................................................................................................. 7 Selection of Item Writers .................................................................................................................................... 8 Item Construction ............................................................................................................................................... 8 Review of Items ................................................................................................................................................... 8 Item Tryouts ...................................................................................................................................................... 13 Item Analysis of Tryout Units ........................................................................................................................... 13 Assembly of New Forms .................................................................................................................................... 13 Content and Fairness Review of Test Forms ..................................................................................................... 14 Review Following Operational Administration ............................................................................................... 15 Test Development Procedures for the Writing Test ................................................................................................ 15 Selection and Training of Prompt Writers ....................................................................................................... 15 Prompt Construction ........................................................................................................................................ 15 Content and Fairness Review of Prompts ........................................................................................................ 15 Field Testing of Prompts ................................................................................................................................... 15 Review of Field Tests and Operational Administration .................................................................................... 16 ACT Scoring Procedures ........................................................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 3 ACT’s College and Career Readiness Standards and College Readiness Benchmarks .......................... 17 ACT’s College and Career Readiness Standards ..................................................................................................... 17 Description of the College and Career Readiness Standards ........................................................................... 17 Determining the Score Ranges for the College and Career Readiness Standards ........................................... 18 Developing the College and Career Readiness Standards ................................................................................ 18 Refining the College and Career Readiness Standards for ACT Explore and ACT Plan ............................... 21 The College and Career Readiness Standards in Writing ............................................................................... 22 Periodic Review of the College and Career Readiness Standards ................................................................... 23 i Interpreting and Using the College and Career Readiness Standards .................................................................. 23 ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks .................................................................................................................... 24 Description of the College Readiness Benchmarks ......................................................................................... 24 Data Used to Establish the Benchmarks for the ACT ....................................................................................... 24 Procedures Used to Establish the Benchmarks for ACT Explore and ACT Plan ............................................ 24 Intended Uses of the Benchmarks for Students, Schools, Districts, and States .................................................... 25 Interpreting ACT Explore, ACT Plan, and the ACT Test Scores With Respect to Both ACT’s College and Career Readiness Standards and ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks ................................................... 25 Chapter 4 Technical Characteristics of the ACT Tests ............................................................................................. 38 Norming and Score Scale Data ................................................................................................................................ 38 Sampling for the 1995 Study ............................................................................................................................ 38 Scaling the Multiple-Choice Tests ..................................................................................................................... 40 Scaling the Writing Test .................................................................................................................................... 45 Norms for the National Sample ........................................................................................................................ 45 User Norms ....................................................................................................................................................... 50 Equating ................................................................................................................................................................... 50 Reliability, Measurement Error, and Effective Weights ........................................................................................... 51 Chapter 5 Validity Evidence for the ACT Tests ........................................................................................................ 64 Overview ................................................................................................................................................................... 64 Measuring Educational Achievement .....................................................................................................................