Arizona high school juniors from eight different school districts will be taking the American College Test (ACT) simultaneously on April 22, 2009. Students will be able to take the test in their home school for free as opposed to paying a $31 fee and attending a testing site.

Barbara Hickman, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction at the district office, said this pilot program has never been done before.

“(Usually) the test is $31 but private funding — I don’t know exactly where the money came from — is paying $21 and the district is paying the other $10,” Hickman said. “Rich Crandall (Mesa Republican Representative) organized the new testing pilot.”

However, not every district in Arizona is involved in this. District’s decisions to participate were voluntary after asked to take part in the pilot.

Districts include Globe, Lake Havasu City, Phoenix Union High School District, the unified districts of Mesa, Peoria, Springerville Round Valley, Window Rock and Flagstaff.

Hickman said even if higher education is not in the future of certain students, the test is still offered.

 “It’s a great opportunity,” Hickman said.

Diane Sorden, a junior class counselor and assistant principal of Coconino High School said many students are afraid to come out and admit that they are willing to take the test, but if a student does sign up he or she needs to arrange means of transportation to be present at their testing site.

“Sometimes you have to go to a testing site and Coconino is not a testing site,” Sorden said. “Transportation is sometimes an issue and that actually has stopped students from taking the ACT.”

Zach Luna, junior at CHS took part in the PSAT and said testing in his own school is an advantage.

“I think it’s a great opportunity,” Luna said. “It’s a good time to take it your junior year so you can measure up to what you need to do during your senior year to prepare for college.”

Erin McElfresh, a junior at CHS also took the PSAT and is preparing for the ACT in spring.

“I think it’s really good, especially because it’s here (at Coconino) because you’re in a more comfortable environment,” McElfresh said.

Luna and McElfresh agree that since students do not have to travel to get to their testing site, it makes for a better opportunity to take the test and possibly exceed.

Sinagua High School is taking part in this testing as well.

Janet Woolston, Counselor and Testing Coordinator at SHS, said she thinks the free test is a good thing because students who did not think they could pass ended up scoring high enough to get into college. She said the only disadvantage was how many tests the juniors have to take during this year in high school.

“The hard part is that kids don’t typically want to take the ACT,” Woolston said. “We have so many tests already in the junior class with the PSAT, the ACT, the SAT, the ASVAB and the AIMS; it’s a very tested year.”

Woolston believes that the testing is a good thing for Arizona in the educational department.

“It is going to force Arizona to do preparation for the ACT,” Woolston said.

This may seem like an advantage to most high schools because they will be able to prepare students for a national standardized test with funding, but Gail Mills, a counselor at Flagstaff High School, said she thinks the test is more negative than positive.

“We got the letter about this test in September,” Mills said. “We are going to have to test all of our kids in the gym and the dome and we don’t have enough desks and chairs for them.”

Mills said school funds are going to have to be put towards purchasing more chairs and desks in order for this test to take place. She said it might not benefit the students.

Also, if a district has specific plans for special education students or international students they would not have to take it with the rest of the junior class, for it may hinder test scores. The test would not benefit these students if they are not able to comprehend or understand it.

Part of why the state is offering the ACT like this is because AIMS is based on Arizona standards only.

“If you pass the AIMS, say you get a 100 percent though it is not graded like that, could you go to Connecticut and pass theirs?” Hickman said.

Not only do tests differ from state to state, but some of the tests may not benefit all students.

Every state makes their own standardized test, but since Arizona is 49th out of 50 in state educational funding, the ACT is a way for the school district to check all eight of these to see how students rank nationally.

“We need to see if we can make this a more international test,” Hickman said. “It is beneficial to the kids and beneficial to the district.”