The ACT originally said it rejected those finished tests and score and those students who took the wrong test would have to re-take a correct version during one of its national exam dates.
But the Ohio Department of Education pushed back against the proposal, saying students took the ACT during regular school hours and some may not be able to travel to take the test or have time for it on Saturdays, the national exam days.
The department asked the ACT to accept the tests as valid and release the scores. On Friday, the ACT said it would release the scores of impacted students.
“ACT deeply regrets any inconvenience this situation may have caused to schools, students and their families,” said a representative from the U.S. college-admissions-test provider.
This decision comes a little late for the 102 high school juniors at Miami East High School.
Miami East High School juniors took an incorrect version of the test on April 19. But the ACT sent the school the correct tests, which were administered about two weeks later.
Students and staff would have much preferred to take the test only once, said Miami East Local Schools Superintendent Todd Rappold.
“It caused some scheduling challenges to re-administer the ACT a second time,” he said.
The state commended the ACT for releasing the test results after all.
“We’re happy that ACT is doing the right thing for the affected Ohio students,” said Paolo DeMaria, state superintendent of public instruction. “As a partner in the education field, we knew they would understand that this would create unnecessary disadvantage for students. We look forward to a continued partnership with ACT.”
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About 102 high school juniors at Miami East High School in Miami County had their ACT tests rejected because the U.S. college-admissions-test provider mixed up and distributed the wrong test forms. Students from about 20 districts statewide had invalidated tests.
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But juniors at the Miami East High School have since taken a correct version of the test, officials said.
Statewide, however, the issue has not been resolved.
The ACT has acknowledged its error and has agreed to send vouchers to the impacted students so they can re-take the exam during one of the national test dates, which occur on Saturdays at select locations across the state.
But state education officials have objected to this solution because some students may be tied up with work on Saturdays, lack reliable transportation or are unable to travel to take the exams.
“We find this to be an unsatisfactory response,” wrote Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction Paolo DeMaria to the State Board of Education. “We are asking that ACT score these tests.”
On Wednesday, the state education department filed a complaint with Ohio’s Department of Administrative Services about the ACT, which has a contract with the state to administer its U.S.-college-entrance test.
This was the first year that all high school juniors in Ohio took the ACT, and the tests were administered on school days.
Districts had three dates to provide the test, which were March 21, April 19 and May 3.
The ACT mailed some districts the March 21 test for the April 19 testing date and then later informed those districts it would not score those exams, according to the state.
The education department claims ACT failed to meet its contractual obligations by invalidating the tests of students from about 20 districts. The nationally standardized assessment is required by Ohio law to be administered to all juniors in the state in the spring of the school year, according to the state.
ACT says the 1,300 students will get vouchers that allow them to sit for the national administration of the exams.
But the state says this creates an “equity problem” for students who don’t have access to transportation or work or have other obligations on the weekends.
“The only way for contractor to cure its non-compliance is to score the approximately 1,300 assessments and provide the students with a college reportable score,” the education department wrote in its vendor complaint about ACT.
Miami East High School juniors took an incorrect version of the test on April 19.
But the ACT sent out the correct tests, which were re-administered to students about two weeks later, said Miami East Local Schools Superintendent Todd Rappold.
“For the vast majority of our students, they would have rather received the correct test the first time,” Rappold said. “I know our staff would have rather received the correct test the first time. It caused some scheduling challenges to re-administer the ACT a second time.”
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