Juniors at Poplar Bluff High School (PBHS) are in the midst of preparations for April's ACT exam, despite cuts to state funding which made the previously free test unavailable to many students.
The Poplar Bluff R-1 Board of Education's unanimous decision to continue providing the college entrance exam free to high school juniors came in November after a decrease in state education funding eliminated a Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) program that paid for Missouri students to sit for the ACT one time during their junior year.
Poplar Bluff R-1 Board of Education President John Scott said the decision to continue offering the test for free is a decision to continue offering opportunity.
"College and career readiness for everyone is the ultimate goal for our students," Scott said. "We must do everything we can to give our kids the best chance to succeed."
District superintendent Scott Dill said DESE's program intended "to level the playing field for students who skipped the test because they didn't have the time, money, transportation or initiative to sign up."
In a statement provided during November's monthly board meeting, Dill said in the three years DESE paid for the ACT exam, participation at PBHS increased from 40 percent to more than 90 percent.
"Our local board was gracious enough to allow us to do this," Dill said. "It's one of those threshold moments in a student's academic career that may be a deciding factor in whether or not a student extends education to a post-secondary environment."
PBHS Counseling Dept. Chair Tamara Day said the ACT is the predominant college placement test used in the Midwest and is accepted at all universities in the United States.
"With the opportunity to take it for free, a student who maybe wouldn't have taken it otherwise, could score better than they imagined, and realize, 'I am college material. I have what it takes,'" Day said.
In November, Dill reported approximately 150 students had shown interest in taking the test if paid for by the school, and said the cost to the district will be a reduced rate of $37 per student. Typically the exam costs $46 for the standard version or $62.50 to include the writing component.
"Providing the ACT test free of charge is well worth the cost," Scott said.
According to Poplar Bluff's 2017 Annual Performance Report, more than 60 percent of PBHS students go on to college. Of that percentage, about 20 percent head straight to four-year institutions.
On April 3, the four hour college entrance exam will be administered at PBHS during the school day to allow easy access for all students. The test is not mandatory, but interested juniors need to have signed up by the January deadline.
Dill said offering the test at school removes barriers for all students. He added that if a student receives positive results, it may help him or her begin to consider college as a viable option. Missouri's public schools, also, receive accreditation points for having students take at least one college and career readiness exam by graduation and the ACT is a qualifying test.