All juniors in Michigan public high schools will be required to take the ACT college-entrance test starting in 2007, Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm’s office announced Sept. 21.
The exam will be part of a testing package that will include state-specific items in at least science and social studies and a test of work skills called WorkKeys, which, like the ACT, is produced by the Iowa City, Iowa-based ACT Inc.
Proponents of the shift to the Michigan Merit Examination, as the battery of tests will be known, hope that giving the ACT to 11th graders during school hours and free of charge will encourage more students to enroll in college.
While students will not have to pass the Michigan Merit Examination to graduate, the tests will be used to fulfill the requirements for high school testing under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, pending the approval of federal officials, as well as to determine the winners of the state’s $2,500 scholarship awards, according to a spokesman for the Michigan education department.
The new program replaces the Michigan Educational Assessment Program tests for high schoolers.