By Claire Neemann
For over a decade, students across the state of Nebraska took the Nebraska State Assessment (NeSA). Students grades 3-12 would take the NeSA during the second semester of the school year for a variety of subjects including Mathematics, Reading (Language Arts), Science and Writing.
“NeSA tests were put into place by a state statute passed by the Nebraska Legislature,” said Dr. Valorie Foy, Director of Statewide Assessment and Accountability.
According to Chapter 79 Section 760.03 of the Nebraska Legislature Revised Statute, beginning in 2017-18, the Nebraska Department of Education will decide on a national assessment instrument that can also be used for a standard college admission exam that will be taken by students in eleventh grade. That test would then be used in every public high school in the district. Each district would report individual test scores based upon state board procedures.
After a long process, the Nebraska Department of Education voted that starting this school year, juniors would take the ACT.
“Juniors will take the ACT which will now be considered a state test for high school students,” said Dr. Travis Brady, Instructional Coordinator at Lincoln Southwest. “Next year, sophomores will be taking a Pre-ACT which will prepare them for the ACT, and some freshmen will take the Graduation Demonstration Exam in Reading if they haven’t met previous requirements in middle school.”
Brady expressed students are getting older and tests like NeSA don’t matter or affect them as much as it would if they were in elementary school.
“Age is a big factor because once students get to high school, they start to care less about the standardized testing and don’t try as hard, so it’s not an accurate representation of their knowledge,” said Brady.
According to Dr. Terry Abrahams, some teachers would incorporate specific lessons to help students prepare properly for the NeSA tests. For teachers like Abrahams, the lessons will now gear towards the ACT instead of NeSA.
“Not having NeSA won’t affect my teaching because I will now do ACT prep instead,” said Abrahams.
Abrahams’ only concern with the ACT is for the students who have disabilities because the NeSA provided an alternate test.
“I would like to see an accommodation so those students can be successful,” said Abrahams.
According to the Nebraska Legislature Revised Statute, the Nebraska Department of Education is required to have appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities or for students receiving special education programs.
Melanie Gross, who also teaches at Southwest, says it’ll be a good thing for students. With the NeSA, a student could take up to four tests whereas the ACT is only taken once a year.
“Students are so over tested, so having less tests could motivate them more,” said Gross.
Another benefit of the ACT is students will have an opportunity to take it for free rather than paying for it, which may have detoured them in the past.
“Students could benefit off of it because students who wouldn’t usually consider taking the ACT will now have the opportunity,” said Gross.
The ACT costs $56.50 for the test with the writing section which can be costly for some students.
Junior AJ Lacy sees the potiental the ACT has for students and their future.
“I feel like the ACT will be better than the NeSA, because the ACT can be beneficial for college,” said Lacy.
Lacy also believes the ACT can be beneficial for students planning on attending college.
“A high ACT score looks good on college applications, so it can provide more opportunities for students to succeed.”
Senior Emily Sharpe sees how taking the ACT during school is convenient for students.
“It would’ve been nice to have the ACT as a standardized test instead of a thing you have to do on your own time,” said Sharpe.
The Nebraska Department of Education agreed to a one-year contract with ACT Inc., that includes options to extend the contract in the future. All juniors will take the ACT on April 19.