The ACT Scale Score Ranges
The ACT® assessment was administered statewide to Wisconsin’s 11th graders for the first time in the 2014-15 school year. Wisconsin has established cut scores to delineate each performance level, such that they are aligned to college and career readiness benchmarks and expectations.
The ACT assesses students’ academic readiness for college in five content areas: English, Reading, Writing, Mathematics, and Science. The English Language Arts (ELA) score is an average of the English, Reading, and Writing tests.
Wisconsin’s ACT Performance Level Cut Scores
|
Content Area
|
Basic
|
Proficient
|
Advanced
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
ELA
|
15
|
20
|
28
|
|
Mathematics
|
17
|
22
|
28
|
|
Science
|
18
|
23
|
28
|
Wisconsin’s ACT Performance Level Scale Score Ranges
|
Content Area
|
Below Basic
|
Basic
|
Proficient
|
Advanced
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
ELA
|
1-14
|
15-19
|
20-27
|
28-36
|
|
Mathematics
|
1-16
|
17-21
|
22-27
|
28-36
|
|
Science
|
1-17
|
18-22
|
23-27
|
28-36
|
Establishing these college ready cut scores is necessary to fulfill important accountability reporting requirements. These cut scores, scale scores, and performance levels are Wisconsin specific; they do not apply to other states or nationally but they do generally mirror the college readiness benchmarks set by ACT. The ACT dashboards in WISEdash also report a College Ready/Not College Ready metric (set by ACT) for English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science.
These college and career ready cut scores for The ACT administered in 11th grade were determined through a stakeholder process that involved members of the Office of Educational Accountability as well as educators with expertise in ELA and mathematics, representatives from higher education, local districts, and education organizations.