ACT scoring error could lift or shift Wisconsin scores

A spring online ACT scoring issue has led the testing company to remove and reissue scores for students who took the exam during school-day testing in Wisconsin. Composite and section results for affected students will either stay the same or rise slightly, th

On May 13, the testing company hit pause on thousands of students’ spring online ACT scores in Wisconsin. The message went out to school district test coordinators: the company would remove or reissue scores for students who took the online ACT during school-day testing this spring.

For many students, the change won’t feel like a dramatic rerun of the exam. The company said affected students’ composite and section scores will either stay the same or go up slightly based on their individual performance.

Still, for Wisconsin’s education leadership, the timing has landed like another blow in a year already thick with confusion.

Wisconsin’s state superintendent. Jill Underly. wrote directly to the company’s CEO. saying the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction plans to “begin the process of engaging contract penalties to offset the hardship your scoring issues have caused. ” though she did not specify what those penalties might be.

Underly also said she had “extreme disappointment with this year’s administration of the statewide ACT exam for Wisconsin students.”

Her frustration isn’t limited to one technical error. The scoring issue arrives after ACT changed how the science section counts toward the test’s core composite score.

That shift matters because it altered what students had to do—and what their scores could reflect. ACT removed the science portion of the standardized college admissions test from its core composite score calculation. The change made the science section optional for students. and it took effect for online testing last year and school-day testing this spring.

Underly said she’s heard from education leaders that the “confluence of these decisions is causing Wisconsin’s scores to decline in a seemingly arbitrary and inconsistent fashion,” even before individual, school, or district results are fully visible.

In Milwaukee, where the district is the largest in the state, the ripple may be felt by students and families who started making plans based on the scores they thought were final.

Milwaukee Public Schools spokesperson Anthony Tagliavia said students attending Milwaukee Public Schools may be among those affected. The district notified students and families of the issue in an email on May 18.

ACT told districts it removed affected students’ scores from their MyACT profiles on May 13 and would update them by June 2. The company also said it would resend the new scores to any colleges, universities, and scholarship organizations students selected.

Revised scores, ACT said, will not be lower than what was previously released.

The numbers behind that promise are laid out in ACT’s estimated changes for spring’s scoring issue. For reading, 95% of scores will stay the same or increase by 1 point, while 5% will go up by 2 points. For science, 99% will stay the same or increase by 1 point, and 1% will go up by 2 points. For math, 97% will stay the same or increase by 1 point, and 3% will go up by 2 points. For English, 98% will stay the same or increase by 1 point, and 2% will go up by 2 points.

ACT spokesperson Juan Elizondo said the issue stemmed from a problem with the scoring process. He also said the majority of affected students nationwide are juniors or younger.

That matters in Wisconsin because state law requires all Wisconsin students in 11th grade to take the ACT. More than 92% of eligible students—nearly 59,000 high schoolers—took the ACT in Wisconsin last school year, according to the most recent state data.

But what happens after the test also feeds the stakes. The Universities of Wisconsin system no longer requires ACT or SAT scores for admission. Still, Underly said students continue to rely on the exams for college applications and financial awards. Wisconsin also uses ACT results in state and federal school accountability systems and to measure students’ college readiness.

Underly said the impact is already landing on schools, students, and communities across the state, adding that what’s most troubling is not just the decisions themselves, but how they were implemented.

“Just as concerning is the way in which these changes were implemented, which has created confusion and frustration,” Underly said.

By June 2. ACT’s updated scores are expected to be back in students’ MyACT profiles. and then delivered again to the colleges and scholarship organizations that were selected based on the original releases—replacing what districts now say may not reflect the scoring process that should have been used in the first place.

For students whose plans hinge on every point, the difference between “final” and “corrected” is everything. The company says the adjustments should be slight for most. Wisconsin’s superintendent says the damage from the system’s churn already has a human cost—one that won’t wait for the last score to be posted.

ACT scoring issue Wisconsin ACT Jill Underly Milwaukee Public Schools MyACT June 2 updated scores science section optional 11th grade ACT requirement