wise words
yearly assessment
ACT ASPIRE EXAM
DRIVES PERFORMANCE
By Thomas Rains
By now, Alabama public school parents should have received their
child’s ACT Aspire test score. The scores look different from what
we are used to, but that’s okay, so is the exam.
The ACT Aspire is the state’s annual assessment given to 3rd
through 8th grade students, and to 10th grade students during the
last few weeks of school. Next Spring will be the third year that
students have taken the ACT Aspire instead of the Alabama
Reading and Math Test. The switch is part of the Plan 2020 effort
led by the Alabama State Board of Education to raise graduation
rates, close the achievement gap, and increase college-and
career-readiness with the use of higher-quality assessments
to measure our student’s learning.
Here are three things that you need to know about the ACT Aspire:
1) The ACT Aspire is more demanding than the Alabama
Reading and Math Test: The Aspire requires students to think
more critically, show their work, and explain their answers through
short essays and other methods.
“ I CANNOT HELP MY CHILD
WITH THEIR HOMEWORK.. "
2) The ACT Aspire is a more honest assessment of how
your child is learning: The ACT Aspire exam is based on
Alabama’s College and Career Ready Standards, which sets clear
and consistent expectations for what a student is supposed to learn
in each grade. Rather than focusing on a score, the ACT Aspire
helps parents and teachers see how well students understand what
we are teaching.
3) The ACT Aspire will help teachers tailor instruction to
your child: Whether students are excelling at a faster pace than
their peers or need additional help to get on the right track, the
ACT Aspire enables teachers and parents to personalize
instruction for individual students that will help them stay
motivated and on course to graduate on time and be ready for
real-life.
Still have questions? Ask your child’s
teacher for a parent-teacher conference
to discuss his/her ACT Aspire scores and
what he/she needs to do to remain on
track.
Thomas Rains is the policy director for
A+ Education Partnership. Learn more
at http://www.aplusala.org/.
THE HOMEWORK HELP DESK
Students are learning new concepts and strategies in the
classroom, which means parents are too. Homework
Help Desk has worked to identify the new concepts
that parents a