The Illinois State Board of Education recently announced that students will be taking the ACT rather than the SAT for their standardized exams starting next spring.

As a Capitol News Illinois article by Andrew Campbell published earlier this month explains, Illinois uses these tests – which are commonly taken for the sake of college admissions and scholarships – as part of a collection of assessments administered every year to meet federal mandates under the Every Student Succeeds Act.

The results are reported each year through ISBE’s Illinois Report Card and are used to ensure schools and districts meet basic academic standards.

Illinois began using the SAT with essay as the state assessment for high school juniors in spring 2017, adopting the PSAT 8/9 exam for freshmen and the PSAT 10 for sophomores two years later.

Initially, adopting a college entrance exam in the state’s annual assessment program was seen as a bonus as it gave graduating high school students throughout the state a reportable score, paid for by the state, which could then be used for their college applications – though many universities have stopped requiring either the SAT or ACT as part of their admission processes.

The upcoming switch to the ACT exam is the result of ISBE’s routine procurement process, with the agency’s contract with the College Board – the nonprofit corporation operating the SAT – set to expire.

The state board agreed to open the bidding process, ultimately deciding to award a six-year, $53 million contract to ACT back in May.

An apparent bonus of this switch according to ISBE is that the ACT includes a science component. The SAT only covers the core subjects of reading, writing and math, meaning high school juniors will now no longer have to take a separate Illinois Science Assessment.

Locally, Columbia Superintendent of Schools Chris Grode and Waterloo Superintendent of Schools Brian Charron offered comment on the change in exams, with both of them explaining that the change isn’t expected to have much impact.

Grode noted that each test has its merits, and the state might well return to the SAT when the new contract expires.

“There are pros and cons to both,” Grode said. “I think I’ve been in this profession long enough to have used them all, and we will probably use this for a while and then go back. It’s not uncommon for them to change.”

Charron similarly expressed that there isn’t a significant difference between the tests, though some students are advised to take both depending on the colleges they plan to submit applications to.

“We really don’t teach to the test that much in our district,” Charron said. “Our curriculum doesn’t change that much based on which exam is being given, so I don’t personally place a lot of importance on which exam it is that we are required to take.”

Per the ISBE Report Card, the average SAT scores for Waterloo in 2023 were 507.1 for English language arts and 501.4 for math. The 2022 scores were 508.1 and 510.5, and the 2021 scores were 510.1 and 502.6.

In Columbia, the 2023 ELA score average stood at 511 with math at 508.4. The scores were 515.1 and 516.8 in 2022 and 517 and 526.3 in 2021.