By Staff Writer Lynn Arbid
The Prairie State Achievement Exam, or PSAE test, that juniors will take this year at Naperville North will include the written portion of the ACT.
According to Timothy Wierenga, district assistant superintendent for assessments and analytics, the change is being made because the state of Illinois is now funding this written portion of the test. NNHS testing coordinator Art Albright said the written portion was originally removed from the PSAE due to state economic concerns.
“This allows it to be a full ACT that students can use for entrance at college,” said Wierenga. “In many cases last year, students that wanted to use their ACT scores to get into a college [could not because] some colleges or universities required the writing portion.”
According to the ACT website, the written portion is a 30-minute essay test. The written portion is optional, though some colleges require it for admission; however, Wierenga said students must take the written portion in school as part of the PSAE to graduate.
PSAE testing at NNHS takes place over two days. The first day consists of the full ACT test, including the written portion, and the second day contains a test designed to measure one’s skill set, Albright said.
Next year the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC test, is planned to replace the ISAT and PSAE as the official state test, said Wierenga.
“In the future, [as a result of PARCC testing] we will actually have a writing part starting from grade three to grade 11,” said Wierenga. “Writing is going to become a large part of what state assessments and the future will hold.”
PSAE testing will take place on April 23 and 24. Makeup days are scheduled for May 7 and 8, Albright said.
Luc Waked • Mar 12, 2014 at 11:29 pm
I’m not a junior, but this is a good thing.
Not including the writing portion of the ACT is silly, as students will just have to spend more money and time to take the test again in order to complete the writing portion
Hannah Novak • Mar 11, 2014 at 9:08 pm
I really wish North had given the class of 2014 the opportunity to take the full exam with writing – only one of the schools I applied to could use the score from the test we took during school. The class that was free during lunch periods was helpful, but I really wish they would have reviewed writing during that. Honestly, the essay has very little to do with content – you really have to follow a very specific formula.
Anushka Rau • Mar 11, 2014 at 7:32 pm
This is helpful. I know a lot of people who didn’t even want to take the PSAE because it was an ACT that was useless to their college admissions. Hopefully now students will be less stressed about standardized testing because they have more opportunities to get the score they want.