Yes, we have some budget challenges, but we still have to teach our children and encourage them to achieve. One of the more exciting things coming up is the Arizona ACT pilot project. For the past several years, Arizona has had the lowest percentage among all 50 states of students taking a college entrance exam. We have the opportunity to quickly turn this around.
Once each year, the American College Testing (ACT) organization offers a weekday option (instead of a Saturday) of the ACT college entrance exam for statewide (i.e. CO, IL, MI, TN and MS) and school district participants. This year the exam is being offered on Wednesday, April 22, 2009. The cost to participate is $31 per student, but thanks to a $250,000 seed grant from the Helios Education Foundation and participation from each of the school districts, this pilot project has become a reality, at no cost to the student.
Eight school districts (Flagstaff, Globe, Lake Havasu, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix Union, Round Valley, and Window Rock) have accepted the challenge to participate in this pilot project. Each of these superintendents and their respective school boards have agreed to take the bold step of testing every junior in their district on Wednesday, April 22. These eight districts have a combined enrollment of approximately 15,000 juniors.
Over the next three months, you will hear more about this pilot project and the test results. Just a quick thought, if you are the parent of a junior not in one of the eight pilot districts, encourage your child to take the ACT or SAT college entrance exam. There is very little downside to taking the exam and huge upside potential. Click on the links below to get to the right website.
ACT Exam SAT Exam
ACT/SAT 2007
ACT vs SAT 2008
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