Enhanced ACT: Watertown High School Shifts Testing Strategy for Juniors

Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - The Watertown High School junior class has moved into a new era of standardized testing as the district officially pivots from the Smarter Balanced assessment to the “Enhanced ACT”.

Director of Curriculum and High School Principal Patty McClemans presented an in-depth update to the Watertown School Board on Monday, detailing how the transition aims to reduce “testing fatigue” while expanding college and career readiness for 100% of the district’s juniors.

A More Streamlined Experience

The move to the Enhanced ACT represents a shift from what McClemans called the “legacy” version of the test. The new format is designed to be more streamlined, featuring 44 fewer questions across the exam.

Significant reductions include:

·         English: Decreased from 75 items to 50.

·         Math: Reduced from 60 questions to 45.

·         Multiple Choice: Math questions now feature four options instead of five.

“They have made some positive changes to the ACT that I think we saw the benefits of as kids were walking out of the ACT this year,” McClemans stated. “I think the kids like, especially the ones that have taken the ACT before, they liked having less questions and more time to take their time on that”.

Equity and Access

One of the most praised aspects of the new strategy is its universal implementation. By administering the test to all juniors during the school day, the district has eliminated traditional barriers to entry.

“I love the universal access and the equity piece of it being an opportunity for all students to have the chance,” noted Board Member Jean Moulton.

While a traditional Saturday ACT session costs families approximately $90, the state-mandated test is free to all students. McClemans highlighted this as a “really big advantage” for local families. Furthermore, because it is a state test, the scores will automatically appear on student transcripts, where they can be used for scholarship applications and university admissions.

Preparation and Implementation

Watertown officials believe their students were better prepared than many of their peers across South Dakota because the district had already moved its “pre-ACT” testing online the previous year.

“One thing our juniors going into the ACT had... was we did do the pre-ACT, and we did do it online,” McClemans explained. “And so that was not a new thing for them to be able to kind of mimic that and have that practice of it being online last year”.

The district uses tools such as “South Dakota My Life” and a search engine called “Methodize” to track students’ progress in ACT skills through advisories and classroom integration. Rather than treating the ACT as an isolated event, teachers across all content areas—including science and social studies—now integrate ACT-style reading and data analysis into their daily lessons.

High Engagement and Future Baseline

The high school chose to administer the test over a single day rather than two, starting shortly before 9:00 a.m. and concluding by 1:15 p.m. The strategy resulted in phenomenal student attendance, with fewer than 10 juniors absent on testing day.

“The amount of kids that were lining up at 8:15 told me like they were... they were ready,” McClemans said.

While a 1% to 3% drop in overall district averages is statistically expected as the testing pool expands from a self-selected group of college-bound students to the entire junior class, the district expects to receive its new “baseline” data in May. A state workgroup will meet in June to determine “cut scores” that will equate ACT performance to proficiency levels similar to those used in the previous Smarter Balanced system.