This year marked the first year of Ohio’s state-funded ACT test that schools administer to high school juniors during the school day. According to guidance counselor Mike Murphey, the state now requires all schools to administer this test. The Ohio Department of Education website notes that passing this test serves as one of three options for students to earn their diploma.

Revere students took the test, which the state distributed to all schools on March 21, in various locations throughout Revere High School. Proctors established testing in multiple classrooms and the gyms, separating students into groups of about 20-30. The typical ACT, which occurs on Saturday mornings at set testing locations, creates a similar environment. This test, however, felt different for students who are accustomed to taking it on weekends at a location other than their home school with strangers in the room. Since they took this test during the school day, freshmen, sophomores and seniors still continued with their normal school day.

The juniors of the Lantern staff found both benefits and drawbacks to this new testing option. All students saw the no-fee aspect as a positive, as tests typically cost families $50, and students generally take the test more than once. Opinions were split about the school-day environment; some liked not having to wake up on the weekend and complete it during the week, others found it more difficult to adjust. Many found that other students who were not taking the test made unavoidable noises in the hallways, talking and closing lockers throughout the day, distracting the test takers. Perhaps a new procedure to remove the distractions of the other classes can be developed.

Many seniors who have taken the ACT wish that they could have had the chance to take the test during the school day, as it did not cost families and they would not have had to wake up on the weekend.