Cape School District will pay for ACT

Eleventh-grade students at Cape Girardeau's public schools each will receive a chance to take the ACT this academic year, according to school officials.

Tony Robinson, deputy superintendent of secondary education, said the district feels the ACT is an important component of their overall plan to bring students to college and career readiness.

The state of Missouri had funded a program allowing each junior to take the ACT in 2015 and 2016, but its funding was cut earlier this year.

While the district will pay for each junior to take the ACT, Robinson said, the goal is to have each high-school student take at least two assessments for postsecondary pathways, whether it's college, career or military.

Juniors will have access to the military-provided ASVAB aptitude test and the WorkKeys career preparation test, which already is administered to students at the Career and Technology Center as part of their training, Robinson said.

"We are committed to providing the ACT for our students," Robinson said. "We feel it's important to provide this."

Having these assessments available to high-school students is part of an overall approach designed to give students good preparation for life beyond school, Robinson said.

"We are creating options and opportunities for kids," Robinson said.

Not only will the district pay for students to take the ACT, Robinson said, but the school has applied to be an administering site for the test.

"There's a comfort level there," Robinson said.

Students will be offered sessions in the spring to help prepare them for the ACT in the fall, Robinson said.

"We want to give students strategies, increase their confidence," he said.

Robinson said a good way to do that is invest in students' preparation.

Robinson said ACT data was released Sept. 7, and in the near future, he'll sit down with teachers and administrators at Central High School to discuss the data, what it means and how to best apply the results to benefit students.

Long term, Robinson said, he will review data at the secondary-education level and work with the junior high to focus on specific areas of needed improvement.

"We want to equip kids to succeed," Robinson said.

Jackson's school board recently voted to pay for ACT tests.

Cape Girardeau made the decision at the administrative level; the decision was not made by the board.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

301 N. Clark St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.