ACT Testing Policy in Tennessee: Effects on Test-Taking, Scores, and College Enrollment (Poster 7)

• In Event: Promising Scholarship in Education Research: Dissertation Fellows and Their Research

Abstract

College entrance exams (i.e., ACT and SAT) are widely used for both merit-based financial aid and college admissions, and higher-income students are more likely to take these exams than their lower-income peers. In response, several states have implemented universal college entrance exams in which all high school juniors sit for the test on a school day. While these policies have been effective at increasing access to the exams for low-income students, higher-income students still retake the exams at higher rates than low-income students do, allowing exam-related gaps in postsecondary access to persist. In 2016, Tennessee became the first universal exam state to expand the policy to include a free universal retake for all students in fall of senior year. Using longitudinal state administrative data combined with IPEDS and National Student Clearinghouse, this study evaluates the impact of this Tennessee policy on retake rates, ACT scores, and postsecondary enrollment. This study bridges the literature on universal entrance exam policies with the literature on exam retakes by evaluating the first universal exam policy to include a free retake opportunity. Results indicate that the policy has narrowed income-based gaps in access to the exams but has widened gaps in ACT scores and postsecondary enrollment, suggesting that higher-income students may be benefitting from a universal retake policy more than their lower-income peers.

Author

• Lauren Covelli, American University
  Presenting Author