Students at Fountain Hills High School will begin standardized testing next week. Ninth, tenth and eleventh grade students will take a version of the American College Testing (ACT) college admission test as the state standardized test, and juniors can use their ACT results for college admissions.

Juniors and sophomores will be tested next Tuesday, April 4. Freshmen will be tested in math and reading next Wednesday, April 5, and then tested in English, writing and science on Thursday, April 6.

The state department of education requires that all juniors take the ACT and all freshmen take the ACT Inspire test. The state covers the cost of these tests, and Fountain Hills Unified School District has elected to cover the cost of the PreACT test for every sophomore in the district this year, according to assistant principal Jessica Kane.

“The one thing that the ACT is, is a very different type of testing than most students are used to,” Kane said. “We’ve been working with them and preparing with them to give them ACT-like questions.”

The ACT is scored from one to 36, but the ACT Inspire test is scored in much larger numbers. The information and questions are similar, but they’re not calculated the same. The PreACT is similar to the ACT and gives students another practice test before their state test.

There is no limit to how many times a student can take the ACT or SAT test for college admissions. If they take a test more than once, students can “superscore” their results by taking the best subject scores from each attempt and combining them for one official score.

ACT and SAT scores are no longer required for admission by the only four-year public universities in the state, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona. However, scores are used for course placement at these universities and are required at many colleges around the country.

The Arizona Board of Regents is the Governing Board for public universities in the state. According to their 2021 postsecondary attainment report, only 46.3% of Arizona’s graduating seniors in 2020 went on to attend either a two- or four-year college. Before COVID-19, only 52.9% of the 2019 statewide graduating class went on to attend college.

The report goes on to say that among the 2015 statewide high school graduating class, only 27.4% completed a two- or four-year degree. These Arizona students would have finished their fourth year in 2019, before COVID-19 lockdowns began.

The report found that Arizona students complete four-year college degrees at less than half the national rate. If trends continue, the Board of Regents believes that only 16.8% of the state’s high school graduating class in 2025 will graduate from a four-year college by 2029.

Goals

Fountain Hills has been one of the top performing school systems in the state for many years. Superintendent Dr. Cain Jagodzinski said he wants to continue excellence in local schools, and he wants to see students succeed after high school.

Jagodzinski and other administrators have met with high school students to create a “Portrait of a Graduate.” The portrait is a list of skills that students felt they needed to be successful in everyday life after high school, whether they pursue college or another career.

The skills are leadership, critical thinking, responsibility, self/goal driven and problem solving. Jagodzinski presented the portrait at the Governing Board meeting last Wednesday, March 22, and it will be used as a template to teach life skills alongside academics.

“Your ability to do schoolwork and your ability to have a strong base to be successful academically is one thing, but there’s so much more to college than that,” Jagodzinski said. “Its lifestyle. It is being able to be goal directed on your own and get up for that 8 a.m. class and not sleep in. Mom’s not there to come in and wake you up. You don’t have your parents there to ensure you’re staying on task.”

Some students join the military or enter the work force after high school, and Jagodzinski believes the skills in the portrait will also help them achieve success. FHUSD staff will make efforts to ensure students are academically ready and well-rounded for whatever comes next after high school.