For the first time, juniors will be required to take the Plus Writing during the districtwide ACT on Tuesday, April 28. The decision stems from a state guideline made by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

“DESE is asking school districts to ensure students across the state of Missouri are meeting college and career readiness standards,” Julia Rust, testing coordinator, said. “The ACT Plus Writing assessment is an excellent source to measure such standards.”

The ACT Writing test is a 30-minute essay test that complements the English Test. The Writing subscore is reported on a scale of 2-12 and is combined with a higher weighted English Test score that is then reported on a 1-36 scale.

Rust said the added writing supplement will benefit students applying to certain colleges that require or recommend that students complete the ACT Plus Writing to be considered for acceptance.

“We were having a lot of students taking the test again with writing to meet college requirements,” Principal Dr. Greg Mathison said. “We want students to have all they need the first time.”

Freshmen and sophomores also will be testing the same day, Rust said. Freshman are scheduled to take ACT ASPIRE test, which measures achievement in English, math, reading, science and writing. Sophomores will be administered the practice version of the ACT, a new implementation from years past.

Testing for the three grades will take up most of the school day, beginning at 8:15 a.m. and extending to 1:30 p.m., Dr. Mathison said.

Rust said that in addition to informing students about their academic abilities, the testing will benefit classrooms at learning.

“A student’s test score can assist his or her high school teachers with addressing academic areas needing improvement as well as building on current strengths, which can better prepare a student for college and career options,” Rust said.

For students looking to prepare for the April ACT, Renaissance has partnered with Sylvan Learning Center to offer practice versions of the test to students. Various St. Louis County Library branches are also holding free prep workshops with registration.

Lauren Lamb, junior, said she thinks the required writing portion will be useful during college admissions.

“Some schools won’t even allow you to apply unless you’ve taken the ACT with the writing,” Lamb said.

On the other hand, Dana Rosenblum, junior, has taken the ACT Plus writing before and said she does not see the use in making all juniors take the writing portion.

Emily Gearhart, junior, also said she dislikes that the Writing ACT has been made mandatory.

“A lot of other schools I know aren’t requiring it, so I think it’s kind of pointless,” Gearhart said.