ACT test now mandatory in Nevada
By Brian Nordli, Las Vegas Sun
High school juniors will have a new required exam waiting for them in April that could help them prepare for college.
The Nevada State Board of Education unanimously approved a plan this week to administer the ACT exam to all high school juniors. The decision will allow the Department of Education to begin negotiating a contract with ACT to distribute its test.
While the exam is mandatory for all students, it will not affect whether a student will graduate. Instead, it gives high school juniors a free exam that is required to apply to many colleges.
The decision to adopt the ACT with writing comes after a law was passed during the 2013 Legislature that mandated all Nevada high schools to administer a “college and readiness” exam to juniors. An Education Department committee had ranked the ACT above the SAT and the McGraw Hill exam.