According to the ArborBridge's News Flash that I receive weekly, we are witnessing a decline in both SAT and ACT Test takers, but the drop in numbers is much lower on the SAT test than the ACT examination. What is the cause of the drop in testing? COVID-19
ACT is down by 375,000 testers and the SAT lost around 700,000 test takers! According to ArborBridge, "the ACT average score dropped 0.3 points while the average SAT score rose nearly 10 points."
Here are some of the key factors noted by ArborBridge from the ACT report
For the first time more than 4% of testers scored an elite composite score of 33 or higher.
Perfect scores were most common in Reading, with the fewest perfect scores in Math.
Only 36% of testers took the essay section, a number that continues to decline each year by about 5 percentage points.
Williams Educational Consultants believes that testing is changing for future classes, not just the current or upcoming class of 2023. Therefore, we suggest that students and families speak to the admissions at each college of interest to learn about current and future trends related to standardized testing.
It is important for families to also be aware of the test-optional site: FAIRTEST