While many students study hard, practice and try multiple times to get the best score possible on their ACT’s, another BHS student no longer has to worry about getting the best score possible, because he already did. Sophomore Andrew Scherber scored a perfect 36 on the test when he took the ACT last month.
“I didn’t take any practice tests this year, I did nothing, I was just like, ‘Oh I have the ACT on Saturday.’ Which I remembered the Wednesday beforehand and I was like ‘Oh ok,’ so I woke up Saturday morning and went and took the test. […] I probably should have [studied], but I didn’t, “ explained Scherber.
This year, the state has added the ACT to graduation requirements, but many BHS students, including Josh Polzin and Andrew Scherber, had already taken the ACT before the Minnesota state test day. By requiring all juniors to take the ACT on April 28th, the state spent extra money on students like Josh Polzin, who already had a achieved a perfect score of 36 and will continue to spend extra money on underclassmen like Andrew Scherber who achieved a 36 at an earlier grade level, unless the requirements change.
“Everyone should take the ACT at some point and I think that it is a good statistic to see how everyone is doing and to plan curriculum but I don’t think everyone should need to take it on the same day,” said Polzin. “If students have already taken it on a national test day, they should be able to use those scores to fulfill state requirements. Personally, I think that the four hour test I spent my time on was time I could have spent on classes that were more important at that point. It was a waste of resources on the state’s part.”
In order to improve the overall fairness, effectiveness, and economics of the test date, the restrictions should be changed to accommodate students who have already achieved scores that they are proud of and that meet college benchmarks.
“The state should change rules surrounding the ACT and not force everyone to take it on the same day without any exceptions. If you’ve already taken the test before the time (state test date), I don’t think you should have to take the test again, you should just need to submit your score to the state for statistic purposes so the state knows that you are on track as a student,” explained Polzin.
