Boost Your ACT Score with Interleaving and Spaced Practice

How the Science of Learning Actually Improves ACT Scores

If you're preparing for the ACT, you've probably spent hours drilling practice problems, working through one subject at a time until you feel like you've got it down. But what if I told you there's a more effective way to study that is backed by decades of cognitive science research?

Enter interleaving and spaced practice: two evidence-based learning strategies that can significantly improve your ACT performance and help you retain information long after test day.

The Science Behind These Strategies

Spaced practice involves spreading your study sessions out over time rather than cramming everything into marathon sessions. When you revisit material at intervals, your brain has to work harder to retrieve the information, which strengthens the neural pathways associated with that knowledge. Research shows this "desirable difficulty" leads to better long-term retention than massed practice.

Interleaving means mixing different types of problems or subjects within a single study session, rather than blocking them into separate chunks. While it might feel less comfortable than practicing one skill repeatedly, interleaving forces your brain to constantly retrieve different strategies and discriminate between problem types, which is exactly what you'll need to do on the ACT.

Neuroscientist studies using fMRI scans have shown that interleaved practice activates different brain regions than blocked practice, particularly areas involved in planning and executive function. Your brain literally learns to be more flexible and adaptive.

Why These Strategies Work for the ACT

The ACT is designed to test your ability to apply knowledge flexibly across different contexts and switch between question types rapidly. Each section throws various problem types at you in mixed order. The Math section alone includes algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and statistics, all jumbled together. Reading passages alternate between informational and narrative texts.

Traditional blocked practice (doing 20 algebra problems in a row, then 20 geometry problems) creates an illusion of competence. You get into a groove and feel like you're mastering the material, but this doesn't prepare you for the cognitive switching required on test day.

Interleaving mimics the actual test format, training you to:

• Quickly identify what type of problem you're facing

• Select the appropriate strategy from your mental toolkit

• Transition smoothly between different skills and subjects

Spaced practice ensures that you're not just temporarily memorizing formulas or strategies. You're building durable knowledge that will be accessible months later when you sit for the actual ACT.

Benefits You'll Experience

Improved discrimination skills: You'll get better at recognizing subtle differences between problem types, reducing careless errors from applying the wrong approach.

Reduced test anxiety: Because you've practiced retrieval under varied conditions, you'll feel more confident that you can access information when you need it.

Better long-term retention: Information sticks around longer, meaning less last-minute cramming before test day.

Enhanced problem-solving flexibility: You'll develop the ability to approach problems from multiple angles, crucial when you encounter unfamiliar question formats.

More realistic practice: Your study sessions will mirror the actual test experience, reducing surprises on test day.

Concrete Examples for ACT Prep

Math Section Interleaving

Instead of doing all your algebra problems on Monday, geometry on Tuesday, and trigonometry on Wednesday, try this approach in a single 45-minute session:

• Problem 1: Solve a quadratic equation (algebra)

• Problem 2: Find the area of a triangle given coordinates (geometry)

• Problem 3: Calculate the sine of an angle (trigonometry)

• Problem 4: Interpret a linear graph (algebra)

• Problem 5: Find the volume of a cylinder (geometry)

• Problem 6: Work a word problem involving ratios (arithmetic)

Rotate through all major content areas multiple times during each session. This mirrors how problems appear on the actual test.

Reading Section Interleaving

Rather than reading three literary narratives in one sitting, alternate passage types:

• Monday: Literary narrative, then social science, then natural science

• Wednesday: Humanities, then literary narrative, then social science

• Friday: Natural science, then humanities, then literary narrative

Also, mix up the skills you're practicing. Don't just answer all the main idea questions, then all the detail questions. Shuffle question types just like they appear on the test.

English Section Interleaving

Create mixed practice sets that include:

• A punctuation question

• A rhetorical skills question about organization

• A grammar question about subject-verb agreement

• A style question about word choice

• Another punctuation question with a different rule

This trains you to shift gears quickly rather than getting locked into "punctuation mode" or "organization mode."

Science Section Interleaving

Alternate between different types of passages and questions:

• Data representation graph interpretation

• Research summary experimental design question

• Conflicting viewpoints comparison question

• Back to data representation with a different graph type

Implementing Spaced Practice

Here's a sample 8-week ACT prep schedule incorporating spacing:

Week 1: Introduce all content areas lightly. Take a diagnostic test.

Weeks 2-3: Study each section, but revisit Week 1 concepts at the start of each session. Spend 15 minutes reviewing before introducing new material.

Weeks 4-5: Continue new material while scheduling review sessions for concepts from Weeks 1-3. Use a rotationin whiche you review material from 1-2 weeks ago, thenfrom 3-4 weeks ago.

Weeks 6-7: Focus on your weakest areas but maintain review of all previously covered material. Every study session should include problems from various weeks.

Week 8: Take full-length practice tests under timed conditions. Review any weak spots using spaced retrieval of related concepts.

Daily Schedule Example

A 90-minute daily session might look like:

• 0-15 min: Review flashcards or problems from last week

• 15-30 min: Quick review of material from three weeks ago

• 30-75 min: Mixed practice of new and recent material (interleaved by subject and problem type)

• 75-90 min: Preview tomorrow's topics and create retrieval cues

Making It Stick

Use these tactics to maximize the benefits:

Create mixed problem sets: Build your own practice tests that scramble problem types. Many ACT prep books are organized by topic, so you'll need to deliberately mix them up.

Use active recall: Don't just reread your notes. Close the book and try to write down everything you remember. Wait a few days and do it again.

Embrace the struggle: Interleaving and spacing will feel harder than blocked, massed practice. That difficulty is a sign the strategies are working. Don't mistake ease for learning.

Track your progress differently: Instead of asking "Did I get this problem right?" ask "Could I identify what type of problem this was and select the right strategy?" That's the skill interleaving builds.

Use a spacing app or calendar: Set reminders to review specific topics at increasing intervals (1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 14 days, 30 days).

When students interleave skills and space their practice, they’re no longer preparing for practice questions.

They’re preparing for test day.

The Bottom Line

The ACT rewards students who can think flexibly and apply knowledge adaptively. By structuring your prep around interleaving and spaced practice, you're not just preparing for a test—you're training your brain to learn more effectively. Interleaving and spaced practice aren’t study “hacks.” They’re how the brain actually learns.

And when prep aligns with that science, score growth follows.

Retrieval Practice:The Most Underrated Strategy in ACT Prep

How the Science of Learning Actually Improves ACT Scores

A student finishes an ACT practice session feeling confident.

The questions looked familiar.
The explanations made sense.
Nothing felt hard.

Then the test day arrives.

The clock starts. The passages feel longer. The answers aren’t as obvious.
They reread. They hesitate. Time slips away.

Afterward, they say, “I’ve seen those questions so many times before, but I just couldn’t figure it out.”

And they have.

Most ACT prep builds familiarity, but the test demands decisions under pressure.

How do I know this? Because I used to be a prep teacher like this. I would have my students do practice after practice. We would score them. I would tell them the right answers. Then we would start on another. Wash, rinse, repeat. I was shocked when they did so well on their practice tests (that I tracked diligently), and then would go into the test and get a significantly different outcome. 

I wasn’t creating learning, I was creating familiarity. 

Recognition fades when the clock starts. Retrieval is what holds.

What Retrieval Practice Actually Is

Retrieval practice means forcing the brain to retrieve information from memory without help. Not rereading notes, or watching someone on YouTube work through the exam, or reading through the answer explanations in the back of the big red book. If the answer is in front of the student, retrieval isn’t happening.

To understand why retrieval practice is so effective, it helps to look at how memory functions. I won’t get too far in the weeds, but come on, this is fascinating stuff! 

Memory is divided into three main stages:

1. Encoding – The process of taking in new information.

2. Storage – The maintenance of that information over time.

3. Retrieval – The act of recalling stored information when needed.

Traditional studying often focuses on encoding—reading notes, highlighting, or listening to lectures. However, retrieval practice strengthens the retrieval stage, which is crucial for long-term learning. When you recall information, you’re not just pulling it out of storage; you’re rebuilding it, reinforcing the neural pathways that make it easier to access later.

Retrieval occurs when students must remember first, even if they get it wrong.

What Retrieval Practice Is NOT (and Why That Matters)

Many students think they’re “studying” when they’re actually just recognizing information. This passive review simply puts information back into the brain, which is not effective for long-term retention. 

This is what studying usually looks like.
You reread grammar rules and think, okay, I remember this.
You watch ACT solution videos and nod along because it all makes sense.
You highlight passages (maybe a little too much) because it feels like you’re doing something.
You do the same type of question again and again, but only with your notes open… just in case.

The problem? None of that is retrieval. You might be more familiar with the information, but that’s pretend learning. Familiarity feels good in the moment, but familiarity disappears under time pressure. Students must step out of their comfort zones and feel the struggle to engage fully in learning. 

Why Retrieval Practice Works (The Brain Science, Plainly)

Each time a student pulls a strategy from memory:

• The memory pathway strengthens

• Recall becomes faster

• The strategy becomes more automatic.

When students pull strategies from memory, the brain strengthens the neural pathways associated with that knowledge, making it easier to recall in the future.

Consider a path in the woods. That worn groove in the dirt wasn’t there at first. It only exists because someone walked it again and again. At first, someone simply pushed aside the shrubs and grass. Over time, the grass stopped growing back, and the path became obvious.

Retrieval practice works the same way. Each time we pull information from memory, we walk that path again, deepening the grooves in our brain. Eventually, accessing that information becomes easier and faster. At that point, the information is no longer just familiar. It’s known.

Just like creating that path may not have been easy, struggle during retrieval is not a sign of failure. When the struggle happens, the learning happens. 

How to Use Retrieval Practice in ACT Prep

(Step-by-Step, Not Theoretical)

Retrieval practice doesn’t require more time, but it does require changing the order of instruction.

Step 1: Ask Before You Teach

Before explaining a strategy, ask students to retrieve it.

Examples:

• “Write down everything you remember about comma rules.”

• “How do you approach a main idea question?

• “What’s your plan when a math problem looks unfamiliar?”

This activates prior knowledge, even if it’s incomplete. 

Step 2: Delay Help

Resist the urge to immediately rescue students.

Let them attempt it, be uncomfortable, and commit to an answer with a full understanding of why they think it’s correct. 

Even a wrong attempt strengthens future recall more than an immediate explanation.

Step 3: Correct and Refine

After retrieval:

• Clarify misconceptions for the next retrieval attempt

• Add missing pieces

• Strengthen the rule

Now the correction sticks because the brain has something to attach it to. (Teachers, this is formative assessment at its finest!)

Concrete Retrieval Practice Examples by ACT Section

ACT English

Instead of reviewing grammar rules, do the following:

Retrieval prompts:

• “Write the rule for subject-verb agreement from memory.”

• “What punctuation would never follow a dependent clause?” (You may even need to start here with what a dependent clause is.)

• “What does concise & precise mean?”

Then:

• Apply the retrieved rule to a timed passage

• Reflect briefly: Did my recall hold up under time pressure? (Reflection is ESSENTIAL in this process to strengthen retrieval in the future.)

ACT Math

Instead of re-teaching formulas, do the following:

Retrieval prompts:

• “Write all the area formulas you remember.”

• “What’s your first step when variables are in the denominator?”

• “How do you know when to plug in numbers?”

Then:

• Solve mixed problems without notes

• Identify which strategies were automatic and which were shaky.

Teachers: Occasionally, take the formula sheets away from students. Even better, give them formula tests! Studies show that testing on material leads to better long-term retention than simply restudying it. Each retrieval attempt acts like a workout for your brain, strengthening the “memory muscle.”

ACT Reading

Instead of rereading strategy lists, do the following:

Retrieval prompts:

• “What elements should guide your reading for each passage?”

• “What makes an answer choice too extreme?”

• “What’s your plan if you’re behind on time?”

Then:

• Read one passage

• Apply strategies consciously

• Check whether the strategy was recalled quickly or slowly.

ACT Science

Instead of reviewing content:

Retrieval prompts:

• “What are the three things to look for in graphs?”

• “How do you answer without reading everything?”

• “What is the difference between a control and a variable?”
  

Then:

• Do a short science set

• Focus on strategy recall, not content mastery.

Why Retrieval Practice Is Perfect for the ACT

The ACT:

• Is fast

• Is cumulative

• Punishes hesitation

Retrieval practice builds:

• Speed

• Automaticity

• Confidence that holds under pressure

Students stop saying: “I knew this… I just couldn’t remember,: and start saying, “I knew exactly what to do.”

What Retrieval-Based ACT Prep Looks Like Over Time

Short. Frequent. Intentional.

Examples:

• 5-minute strategy recall at the start of every session

• Weekly cumulative quizzes with no notes

• Old strategies resurfacing even after “mastery.” (A MUST!)

Working this way feels harder and works better.

Bottom Line

The ACT doesn’t reward those who studied the longest. It rewards those who can retrieve the fastest.

Retrieval practice turns:

• Knowledge into action

• Strategies into habits

• Practice into performance

  Students need to forget to remember. 

  In the next post, we’ll build on this by showing how mixing subjects and skills (interleaving) further strengthens retrieval.
  

Why Students “Know It”… but Can’t Use It on the ACT: The Illusion of Learning Problem

How the Science of Learning Actually Improves ACT Scores

I sat down with my daughter the other day to review her missed questions on the ACT and she told me nearly half a dozen times, “I knew that!” My first response was “Well, clearly you didn’t if you didn’t get it right…” But then I watched her do it and realized she did know it, she just wasn’t able to retrieve it on the spot during the test. If you’ve ever heard a student (or your own child) say, “I know this,” right before missing the question, then read on.

Unfortunately, this is one of the most frustrating parts of prep. (Realistically, it’s the most frustrating part of learning in general.) Students are often doing everything they were told to do, and still not seeing score gains.

They’ve:

• Reviewed notes

• Completed packets

• Watched explanations

• Taken practice tests

• Highlighted, underlined, and reread
  

  And yet, their ACT score barely moves. Sometimes not even at all. So what’s going on?

The uncomfortable truth?

What is happening is the illusion of learning. Feeling prepared is not the same as being prepared, and the Science of Learning explains why.

The Illusion of Learning

There’s a powerful cognitive trap students fall into when studying. Researchers call it the illusion of learning.

It happens when something feels familiar, so the brain assumes it has mastered the content.

Here’s what that looks like in real life:

• “I remember seeing this rule.”

• “This looks easy when I read it.”

• “I understand it when someone explains it.”

• “I can duplicate that example.”

Unfortunately recognizing the content or skill is only the first step. Students who can also retrieve, apply, and decide under pressure will be more successful. Those are far more complex skills and require practice and training. 

Why Traditional ACT Prep Feels Productive (But Isn’t)

Most traditional study strategies reward passive familiarity:

• Rereading notes

• Watching solution videos

• Doing many similar problems in a row

• Reviewing worked examples

  These strategies create false confidence, because the answer is always nearby. Sure, you can find the correct answer once you know your initial choice was wrong. (Here is where you will also hear students say, “I was debating between my choice and that one.”) The problem? The brain never has to work to find it.

If the brain hasn’t practiced retrieving information independently, a student will not see improvements on test day no matter how many hours they study. 

This is why students can:

• Ace homework (They did it ALL!)

• Feel confident during review (They aced the study guide!)

• Freeze on test day (They failed the exam…)
  

  Nothing is “wrong” with the student, but their brain wasn’t trained properly for the tasks tests actually require.

What This Looks Like on the ACT

Let’s make this concrete.

ACT English

Students know grammar rules, but struggle to apply them quickly inside a paragraph.

Why? They’ve memorized rules in isolation, but haven’t practiced identifying errors in context.

ACT Math

Students recognize formulas, but can’t recall them. Furthermore, when given a problem they don’t know which one to use.

Why? After following an example, they practiced problems grouped by topic instead of choosing strategies under time pressure and on a variety of concepts.

ACT Reading

Students understand the passage, but continuously go back to the text to try and find the answers.

Why? They practiced comprehension, but not evidence retrieval or analysis.

ACT Science

Students see patterns in data when it’s explained, but struggle to find them independently.

Why? They’ve relied on walkthroughs instead of interpreting unfamiliar visuals themselves.

Across every section, the pattern is the same:

Students feel prepared because the information is familiar, but that information is gone in the heat of the moment.

What the Research Tells Us

Cognitive science has been warning us about this for years.

In Make It Stick, researchers explain that strategies which feel easy and efficient often produce the weakest long-term learning.

Why? Because learning sticks when it’s effortful AND difficult.

The brain strengthens memory when it has to:

• Retrieve information without cues

• Struggle a bit

• Make mistakes and correct them

• Decide between competing options

In other words, the very actions students are often shielded from in traditional test prep. You can’t familiarity your way into higher ACT scores. What students need is better cognitive training.

The Shift That Changes Everything

Once students understand this, frustration turns into clarity, confidence increases, and practice becomes intentional.

They stop asking, “Why isn’t this working?” and start asking, “Am I practicing in a way that forces my brain to retrieve and decide?” That question alone changes outcomes.

Coming Next: Why Struggle Is Actually a Good Thing

In the next post, we’ll tackle one of the most misunderstood ideas in education:

Why productive struggle is what actually drives ACT score growth.

We’ll break down:

• What “desirable difficulty” really means

• Why struggle feels wrong but works

• How to apply it safely and effectively in ACT prep

Once students stop avoiding struggle, learning finally starts to stick.

The Science of Learning: A Smarter Approach to ACT Prep

How the Science of Learning Actually Improves ACT Scores

(And what students, parents, and teachers should be doing instead)

For as long as I’ve been around ACT prep, the advice has sounded the same:

• Take more practice tests.

• Do more questions

• Grind harder

And on the surface, that advice feels logical. The ACT is a test, so practicing the test should help…right?

But here’s the uncomfortable truth I see every year:

More practice doesn’t automatically lead to higher ACT scores.

(If you’ve been around long enough, you’re probably thinking, “Yes, Ashly, you keep saying this… but what does it mean? Hang in there, and I will show you.)

In fact, for many students, it leads to burnout, frustration, and that awful feeling of being “stuck” at the same score no matter how much they work.

I’ve watched students take test after test, highlight every grammar rule, complete stacks of math problems — and still walk out of the ACT saying, “That felt nothing like what I practiced.” I’ve watched brilliant, capable students with excellent grades sink when they can’t successfully reach the goal they have set for themselves. I’ve had students attend classes or tutoring sessions religiously, only to tell me that their scores didn’t improve. 

So what’s going wrong?

The problem isn’t effort. The problem is where that effort is being directed.

And that’s where the Science of Learning comes in.

The Real Problem With Traditional ACT Prep

Most ACT prep follows a pretty predictable formula:

• Cram a lot of material in a short amount of time

• Take repeated full-length practice tests

• Review by re-reading notes, highlighting, or watching explanations

These strategies feel productive. Students are busy. Parents see hours logged. Teachers see work completed. But busy doesn’t always mean effective. Students are checking the wrong boxes. 

What I see instead is this:

• Students recognize answers without really understanding why (or even more so, they know their answer is wrong, but they don’t know why)

• Scores bounce around from test to test because it’s luck of the draw

• Skills look solid one week and disappear the next

• Students peak too early and lose that stamina long before test day

That’s not a motivation problem. That’s a learning problem.

And cognitive science explains precisely why this happens.

What the Science of Learning Actually Says

The Science of Learning comes from decades of research in cognitive psychology studying how the brain encodes, stores, and retrieves information.

One of its most important conclusions is simple — and a little uncomfortable:

Learning is not measured by how familiar something feels; It’s measured by how well a student can retrieve it later.

In other words, if a student can’t pull a skill out of their brain under pressure, with a clock ticking, on a mixed-skill test like the ACT,  then they don’t really own that skill.

And that matters a lot on a test where:

• Every section is timed

• Skills are mixed

• Anxiety is real

• There’s no partial credit

The ACT doesn’t reward familiarity, but it does reward retrieval.

The Science of Learning Principles That Actually Raise ACT Scores

1. Retrieval Practice (The Game-Changer)

Real learning happens when students try to recall information — not when they re-read it.

That means effective ACT prep looks like this:

• Students attempt ACT-style questions before seeing explanations

• They can explain why an answer works based on prior knowledge, and not just which one is correct

• Wrong answers get analyzed for misconceptions and patterns instead of being erased and forgotten

Retrieval practice is powerful because it:

• Builds speed and accuracy

• Strengthens long-term memory

• Reduces test anxiety by making recall feel familiar

The ACT is a retrieval test. Prep should be too.

2. Spaced Practice (Why Cramming Backfires)

Cramming creates short-term performance, not long-term learning.

It’s why students can ace a practice test on Saturday and then forget half the content by the following weekend.

Effective ACT prep spaces learning out:

• Students revisit grammar rules, math concepts, and reading strategies over weeks

• Skills are intentionally cycled instead of “covered and checked off the list”

• Students are allowed to forget a little before relearning (and even more importantly, are led through the process of understanding what they forgot to reclaim the lost skills)

Spacing out learning matters because ACT Prep isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. 

Spacing:

• Prevents burnout

• Keeps skills sharp from one testing period to another

• Helps students peak on test day, not before

3. Interleaving (Practicing the Way the ACT Actually Works)

The ACT never says, “This is a comma question,” or “This is a system of equations problem,” yet when we prep students, we often teach ACT skills in isolation. 

On the ACT, students must be able to switch gears between different skills and determine what a question is asking before attempting an answer.

Interleaving helps by:

• Mixing question types instead of practicing one skill at a time

• Combining grammar and rhetoric in English

• Blending algebra, geometry, and reasoning in Math (New skills AND old skills)

This trains students to recognize which tool to use, and not just repeat a pattern, because the pattern will not always be the same. 

That’s exactly what the ACT demands.

4. Desirable Difficulty (Why Struggle Is a Good Sign)

One of the hardest mindset shifts for students (and adults) is this:

Struggle is not failure. It’s evidence that learning is happening.

When prep is too easy — or overly scaffolded — students feel confident but don’t retain much.

Effective ACT prep:

• Lets students attempt questions before instruction

• Encourages productive struggle

• Avoids jumping to the answer too quickly

This is huge for:

• ACT Reading stamina

• ACT Science reasoning

• Staying calm when questions feel unfamiliar

The goal isn’t comfort. The goal is resilience.

5. Feedback That Fuels Growth

Not all feedback helps.

“That’s wrong. A is correct” doesn’t move scores.

Effective feedback:

• Explains why an answer is correct

• Highlights common ACT traps

• Forces reflection: What will I do differently next time?

Reflection and analysis turn mistakes into assets instead of confidence killers, and improve accuracy far faster than taking test after test ever could.

So What Does This Mean for ACT Prep?

High scores don’t come from:

• Endless practice tests

• Memorizing shortcuts

• Grinding harder and harder

High scores come from:

• Intentional practice

• Strategic struggle

• Learning that actually sticks

The Science of Learning shifts ACT prep from quantity to quality — and that’s where real growth happens.

What’s Coming Next

In the posts ahead, we’ll dig deeper into:

• How retrieval practice boosts ACT scores and how to implement it effectively

• Why students peak too early and how to prevent it

• What ACT Science really tests (and why background knowledge matters less than you think)

• How parents can tell if ACT prep is actually working

• What practical ACT study plans actually look like and how to use your prep time wisely

Final Thought

Better practice beats more practice. Every. Single. Time.

If ACT prep hasn’t worked before, it’s usually less about a student’s capability and more about the practice not being aligned with how learning actually works.

And the good news?

That’s fixable.

Enhanced ACT Science: What Teachers Need to Know

Every Tuesday on The Scoreboard, we share practical, high-impact strategies to help teachers integrate ACT prep directly into Tier I instruction. Designed for Alabama educators and beyond, Tuesday Playbook connects strong classroom teaching to ACT College Readiness Benchmarks—turning daily lessons into measurable growth. From grammar warm-ups to critical reading routines, these easy-to-run “plays” help teachers build ACT-ready classrooms where every move counts.

If your students are preparing for the ACT in 2025 or beyond, it’s time to sit up and pay attention because the English section has gotten a makeover. The new 'Enhanced ACT' keeps the same 1-36 scoring scale, but with fewer questions, slightly more time per question, and a stronger emphasis on language usage and rhetorical clarity. In short, time is still tight, but the margin for error just got smaller. In this post, we’ll walk through what’s changed, why it matters, and how you can tweak your instructional and test-prep approach to help your students shine.

Enhanced ACT Science: What Teachers Need to Know (and How to Adjust Instruction)

The ACT Science section has always been misunderstood. Despite its name, it’s never been a content-heavy science test—and with the Enhanced ACT, that reality is even more pronounced.

The updated ACT Science prioritizes reasoning, data analysis, and efficiency over memorized facts. For teachers, this is good news. The skills students need to succeed already live inside strong Tier 1 instruction—we just have to surface them intentionally.

Here’s what’s changed, where students struggle, and how to align classroom instruction to the Enhanced ACT Science.

What’s Actually Being Assessed on Enhanced ACT Science

ACT Science continues to focus on scientific reasoning, not advanced content knowledge. Students are evaluated on their ability to:

• Interpret graphs, tables, and charts

• Analyze experimental design

• Compare and evaluate competing hypotheses

• Draw conclusions based on provided evidence

The Enhanced ACT leans even more heavily into clarity and logic, rewarding students who can locate relevant information quickly and ignore distractions.

Where Students Lose Points (and Why)

Most ACT Science mistakes are not caused by weak science knowledge. Instead, students struggle because they:

• Read the passage before reading the questions

• Spend too much time decoding unfamiliar science terms

• Fail to connect questions to specific figures or tables

• Overthink answers instead of trusting the data

These habits slow students down and increase anxiety—especially under timed conditions.

Instructional Shift #1: Teach Students to Start With the Question

On the Enhanced ACT Science, questions drive the reading, not the passage.

In the Classroom:

• Model reading the question first, then locating only the necessary data

• Practice identifying which figure or table answers the question

• Use short, timed practice sets (1–2 questions per graph)

Teacher Language to Use:

“The question tells us where to look.”

This simple shift improves efficiency and confidence immediately.

Instructional Shift #2: Treat Graphs as Text

Graphs on the ACT Science function like informational text. Students must read them, not just glance at them.

Instructional Moves:

• Ask students to describe trends before answering questions

• Use sentence frames:

  • “As ___ increases, ___ decreases.”

  • “The control group shows…”

• Require written explanations during practice—even for multiple-choice questions

This mirrors both ACT expectations and classroom assessment rigor.

Instructional Shift #3: Normalize Strategic Skimming

The Enhanced ACT Science rewards students who know what to ignore.

Teach Students To:

• Skip background paragraphs unless referenced

• Focus on labels, axes, units, and variables

• Avoid getting stuck on unfamiliar terminology

Classroom Strategy:
Have students mark what information is useful versus nonessential in a passage. This builds discernment and speeds up processing.

Instructional Shift #4: Teach Conflicting Viewpoints Like Argument Analysis

The Conflicting Viewpoints passage is essentially claim vs. claim.

Align With Existing Instruction:

• Identify each scientist’s claim

• Note points of agreement and disagreement

• Match evidence directly to viewpoints

Note: The scientist’s argument comes in the very first sentence of the paragraph or response.

This aligns perfectly with CER frameworks, argument writing, and rhetorical analysis already taught in many classrooms.

Instructional Shift #5: Reinforce Logic Over Prior Knowledge

Students do not need outside science knowledge to succeed on ACT Science—and relying on it can actually hurt them.

Classroom Messaging:

• “Everything you need is in the passage.”

• “ACT Science is an open-note reasoning test.”

• “The best answer is supported by the data—not memory.”

Practice this explicitly using unfamiliar topics so students learn to trust their reasoning skills.

What This Means for Classroom Instruction

The Enhanced ACT Science confirms what effective instruction already emphasizes:

• Data literacy

• Logical reasoning

• Evidence-based conclusions

• Efficient processing

When classrooms consistently ask students to analyze, explain, and justify using provided information, ACT Science scores improve naturally—without turning class into test prep.

Teacher Takeaway

Strong ACT Science performance isn’t built through memorization or extra worksheets. It’s built through intentional instruction that teaches students how to think, not what to think.

When students trust the data, read with purpose, and reason with confidence, the score follows.

How to Teach for the Enhanced ACT Reading Test: 2025 Skills, Shifts, and Classroom Practices

Every Tuesday on The Scoreboard, we share practical, high-impact strategies to help teachers integrate ACT prep directly into Tier I instruction. Designed for Alabama educators and beyond, Tuesday Playbook connects strong classroom teaching to ACT College Readiness Benchmarks—turning daily lessons into measurable growth. From grammar warm-ups to critical reading routines, these easy-to-run “plays” help teachers build ACT-ready classrooms where every move counts.

Beginning in September 2025, the ACT Reading section underwent some of its most significant updates in a decade. While the heart of the test remains the same — measuring how well students understand, interpret, and evaluate complex texts — the structure and skills emphasis are shifting in ways that require intentional changes to Tier I instruction.

This guide outlines what’s changing, why it matters, and the specific classroom strategies teachers can implement to strengthen students’ readiness.

What’s Changing in ACT Reading?

1. Fewer questions & Shorter Passages

The enhanced version of reading goes from 40 questions to 36 questions and has an increase of five minutes, going from 35 minutes to 40 minutes.

This change gives students more time per question, increasing from approximately 53 seconds to 67 seconds.

2. More Text Variety

The enhanced test includes:

• The Enhanced Reading Test will still include 4 passages, but only 3 of them will factor into a student’s score. (Important! This eliminates any strategy that may have been taught/used before, where students completed fewer than 4 passages based on how they performed on each. If the skipped passage is one that is scored, this will tank a student’s reading score.)

• A blend of literary narrative, informational, and argumentative texts

• Reading passages will also include graphics such as charts, tables, and graphs.

• Increased emphasis on cross-disciplinary reading skills aligned with science and social studies literacy

Instructional impact: Students must build stamina for reading and demonstrate transfer of reading strategies across genres.

3. Clearer, More Specific Question Stems

Like the English test redesign, every Reading question now includes a full question stem. No more simple line references with vague expectations.

Question types now fall more clearly into three domains:

• Key Ideas & Details

(main idea, textual evidence, inferences, relationships)

• Craft & Structure

(word meaning, POV, text structure, rhetoric)

• Integration of Knowledge & Ideas

(comparing arguments, evaluating claims, analyzing multiple perspectives)

Instructional impact: Students must learn to read the question type as carefully as the text itself.
Teachers should explicitly teach question patterns and stems.

3. Evidence-Based Reading is Now Central

Many questions now require:

• selecting an answer
  and

• choosing the line(s) that best support it

Instructional impact: This mirrors SAT-style evidence pairs and elevates the importance of text-dependent justification in instruction.

4. Increased Cognitive Rigor

The enhanced ACT Reading focuses more on:

• subtle inferences

• author’s logic

• evaluating claims

• understanding complex syntax

• interpreting quantitative information embedded in text (charts, tables)

Why These Changes Matter for Instruction

These shifts align directly with research from Hattie and ACT’s own college-ready benchmarks:

• Complex text exposure (ES = 0.62)

• Reading comprehension strategy instruction (ES = 0.60–0.73)

• Explicit teacher clarity (ES = 0.84)

• Collective teacher efficacy (ES = 1.57)

• Retrieval and spaced practice for vocabulary (ES = 0.72)

The message is clear: Tier I literacy instruction is ACT preparation.
Students don’t need more test prep—they need more strategic, intentional reading every day.

High-Impact Classroom Strategies for the New ACT Reading

Below are practical approaches teachers can implement immediately.

1. Use “Cold Reads” Intentionally

Once a week, provide students with an unfamiliar passage (500–800 words) and ask them to:

• identify the main idea

• annotate for structure

• mark evidence that supports an argument or idea

• answer 5–7 questions by domain (Key Ideas & Details, Craft & Structure, and Integration of Knowledge & Ideas)

Why this works: It builds stamina and develops flexible application of reading strategies.

2. Teach Students to Read Like Test Makers

Model how to:

• predict wrong answers

• eliminate distractors using logic (partial truth, extreme language, unsupported claims, etc.)

• match answer choices to text evidence, not intuition

Instructional Strategy: Do a quick daily warm-up by showing a single question with 4 answer choices — ask students which one is the trap and why.

3. Annotate With a Purpose, Not a Highlighter

Teach a 3-mark system:

• MI → Main idea

• EV → Evidence

• SHIFT → Change in tone, argument, or idea

Why this works: This process is aligned to ACT stems like: “How does the author develop their argument?” and “What shift occurs between paragraphs 3 and 4?”

4. Embed ACT-Aligned Reading Skills in Content Areas

The Reading exam now reflects Science and Social Studies literacy expectations.

Examples:

• Studying POV in ELA → analyzing bias in history

• Analyzing structure in ELA → evaluating a method in science

• Identifying claims & evidence → lab reports and argumentative writing

Why this works: Cross-disciplinary consistency boosts retention

5. Teach Sentence-Level Comprehension

The enhanced test includes longer, more complex syntax.

Classroom moves:

• “Unpack” complex sentences (subject → verb → modifiers → claims)

• Use micro-close reads of one paragraph

• Model how to paraphrase dense academic language

Why this works: Strong sentence comprehension unlocks passage comprehension.

6. Make Text-Evidence Justification a Daily Routine

Use:

• sentence stems (“According to paragraph 3…”)

• evidence logs

• color-coded claims and support

• structured debates using only textual evidence

Why this works: This directly prepares students for the new evidence-pair questions.

7. Build Vocabulary Through Context

This is SO important. The ACT Reading section is no longer using those “SAT word lists” of old. The ACT is using common, everyday language in uncommon ways. Students must be able to determine the word meaning as it is used in context.

Prioritize:

• Tier II academic vocabulary

• roots, affixes, signal words

• analyzing how authors use words rhetorically

Instructional Strategy: A 2-minute “Meaning from Context” bell ringer each day yields compounding returns.

8. Practice “Read Less, Think More”

Teach students to:

• predict the answer to the question before reading the answer options

• search the text with a purpose

• recognize when an answer is lifted from the text, but doesn’t answer the question

This is the #1 skill of high scorers.

Tips for Teachers Preparing Students for the Enhanced Reading Section

• Use released ACT passages when possible

• Build question banks by domain rather than by individual test

• Teach timed practice (8–9 minutes per passage)

• Encourage “mark and move” habits for difficult questions

• Use data trackers to identify domain weaknesses

• Reinforce that Reading is a thinking test, not a speed test

Conclusion: Strong Literacy = Strong ACT Scores

The enhanced ACT Reading test is not just a new format — it reflects a broader shift toward deeper comprehension, strategic reasoning, and evidence-based thinking.

When teachers embed:

• complex texts

• strong reading strategies

• explicit domain-aligned instruction

• structured practice with evidence

students become not just better test takers — but stronger readers overall.

2025 ACT Math Update: Fewer Questions, Higher Stakes, Better Prep

Every Tuesday on The Scoreboard, we share practical, high-impact strategies to help teachers integrate ACT prep directly into Tier I instruction. Designed for Alabama educators and beyond, Tuesday Playbook connects strong classroom teaching to ACT College Readiness Benchmarks—turning daily lessons into measurable growth. From grammar warm-ups to critical reading routines, these easy-to-run “plays” help teachers build ACT-ready classrooms where every move counts.

If your students are preparing for the ACT in 2025 or beyond, it’s time to sit up and pay attention because the English section has gotten a makeover. The new 'Enhanced ACT' keeps the same 1-36 scoring scale, but with fewer questions, slightly more time per question, and a stronger emphasis on language usage and rhetorical clarity. In short, time is still tight, but the margin for error just got smaller. In this post, we’ll walk through what’s changed, why it matters, and how you can tweak your instructional and test-prep approach to help your students shine.

The Enhanced ACT Math Section: What’s Changing — and How Teachers Can Prepare Students Through Tier I Instruction

As the enhanced version of the ACT rolls out, many of the most significant updates affect the Math section—and in ways that directly intersect with daily classroom instruction. For math educators, these changes present both a challenge and an opportunity: to align instruction more closely with the advanced reasoning, algebraic thinking, and data literacy skills today’s students most need.

This guide outlines the specific updates coming to the ACT Math section and offers practical, classroom-ready strategies that teachers can use to ensure students are prepared—not just for the test, but for high-level mathematical thinking beyond it.

What’s Changing in ACT Math?

ACT Math has undergone several important shifts that reflect the exam’s growing emphasis on conceptual reasoning, higher-level standards, and real-world problem-solving. These updates impact both test structure and the types of skills being assessed.

1. Fewer Questions: From 60 → 45 Questions

The ACT Math section is decreasing by 15 questions. While this shortens the section, it also increases the value of each question, leaving students less margin for error.

Instructional takeaway: Students must build accuracy and consistency—not just speed—on higher-level math problems.

2. More Time Per Question

Although the total time is decreasing (60 minutes → 50 minutes), the time per item increases from about 60 seconds to about 67 seconds.

Instructional takeaway: Students must spend their time productively: interpreting questions carefully, evaluating function behavior, reading graphs, and showing reasoning. Rushing is less necessary; deep thinking is more valuable.

3. Shift to Four Answer Choices (Not Five)

All ACT sections now include four choices, not five.

Instructional takeaway: The focus is shifting from distractor-heavy quick guessing to reasoning about mathematical relationships. Students will see more conceptual traps and fewer “gotcha” items.

4. Higher-Level Math Will Appear More Frequently

One of the most significant shifts: ACT is decreasing “Integrating Essential Skills” (middle-school level content) and increasing high school standards. The new subscore percentages are as follows:

• Integrating Essential Skills: 20%

• Number & Quantity: 10-12%

• Algebra: 17-20%

• Functions: 17-20%

• Geometry: 17-20%

• Statistics & Probability: 12-15%

This aligns ACT Math more closely with typical Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II course sequences.

Instructional takeaway: This shift mirrors what strong Tier I instruction should do already by focusing on conceptual understanding, multistep reasoning, and flexible problem-solving.

What These Changes Mean for Classroom Instruction

The enhanced ACT is pushing math instruction toward deeper reasoning, stronger algebraic thinking, and greater data literacy. The following are key instructional implications teachers should consider when planning daily lessons, formative assessments, and intervention supports.

1. Emphasize Algebraic Reasoning Across All Courses

Even in Geometry and Precalculus, algebraic reasoning is foundational. ACT’s updated emphasis means students must confidently:

• Manipulate expressions

• Solve systems

• Interpret functions

• Apply equations within word problems

• Recognize patterns and relationships

Instructional Strategy: Integrate algebraic manipulation as a warm-up or bell ringer in all HS math classes, not just Algebra I. Students should see algebra as a language used everywhere—not a single course.

2. Teach Function Thinking Daily (Not Just in a Unit)

One of the most noticeable increases on ACT Math is questions requiring students to reason about function behavior, including:

• Domain and range

• Growth rates (linear vs exponential)

• Transformations

• Intercepts

• Graph matching

• Composite functions

Instructional Strategy: Use “Which graph matches this function and why?” or “Predict the behavior of this function as x increases” as regular prompts. Even 2–3 minutes of function talk per day builds long-term understanding. (This is especially true for concepts that you are not currently teaching. Retrieval practice is highly beneficial for moving knowledge from short-term to long-term memory.)

3. Increase Exposure to Data, Graphs, and Statistics - Skills that will help Science scores also!

The enhanced ACT better reflects statistical literacy standards. Students must:

• Interpret scatterplots

• Choose correct measures of center

• Compare distributions

• Understand simple probability

• Reason about trends

Instructional Strategy: Include real-world data sets regularly. Analyze graphs from science, economics, or local datasets. Require students to justify which statistical measure is appropriate and why. This builds cross-curricular readiness and critical thinking.

4. Move Beyond Procedural Fluency to Conceptual Understanding

While fluency matters, the enhanced ACT prioritizes multi-step, conceptual thinking over rote procedures.

For example, instead of “solve for x,” students may need to:

• Interpret what x represents

• Build an equation from context

• Select a model

• Evaluate multiple representations

Instructional Strategy: Adopt problems that require “thinking before doing.”
Examples:

• “What’s the most efficient strategy to solve this?”

• “Estimate the answer before solving—does your result make sense?”

• “Identify what the question is really asking.”

These build reflective habits that reduce errors on the exam.

5. Teach Students How to Read Math Problems—Not Just Solve Them

Many ACT errors stem not from math ability, but from misreading, overlooking conditions, or misinterpreting variables.

Instructional Strategy: Model the following during instruction:

• Underline key conditions

• Identify irrelevant information

• Highlight units

• Restate the question in their own words

• Pick the most appropriate strategy before computing

These literacy-focused habits directly improve ACT outcomes and classroom performance.

6. Build Pacing + Stamina Through Tier I Instruction

With fewer questions but higher cognitive demand, pacing is still critical. Likewise, students must understand how to “triage” their math questions to maximize the time they have to work.

Instructional Strategy:
Use short, consistent timing practice:

• 5 problems in 6 minutes

• 10 problems in 12 minutes

• 15 problems in 20 minutes

Focus on accuracy and efficiency. Students should classify questions they don’t know how to do immediately as “later” questions and return to them if they have time remaining. These micro-drills build stamina and reduce test-day anxiety.

7. Use Formative Assessments to Identify ACT-Linked Skill Gaps

The enhanced ACT aligns tightly to high school math content. Teachers can prepare students by aligning formative assessments to skills such as:

• Function transformations

• System solving

• Geometry modeling

• Data interpretation

• Equation building

Instructional Strategy: In PLCs, categorize student errors by concept, not by problem.
Example categories:

• Wrong operation

• Misread condition

• Incorrect equation setup

• Graph interpretation

• Algebraic manipulation

This allows targeted intervention that mirrors what ACT now requires.

8. Embed Productive Struggle in Daily Instruction

The enhanced ACT demands perseverance and reasoning. Students must get comfortable with multi-step tasks.

Instructional Strategy: Design problems that include:

• Non-routine application

• Multiple representations

• Real-world context

• Multi-step reasoning

• Opportunities to justify thinking

Encourage students to check their answers and reflect on their process—not just seek the right answer.

Final Thoughts: Aligning Strong Tier I Instruction With the Enhanced ACT

At its core, the enhanced ACT Math section reinforces what strong math teachers already aim to build:

• Deep understanding

• Flexible problem solving

• Mathematical reasoning

• Data literacy

• Conceptual fluency

These shifts aren’t just test changes—they signal what students must know to be successful in college-level math and beyond.

As teachers, you have the most powerful tool to leverage: daily Tier I instruction that builds understanding, confidence, and stamina. By aligning your instruction with the skills emphasized in the enhanced ACT, you equip students not only to perform well on the test but to thrive in advanced coursework, STEM fields, and real-world decision making.

Ready to put these strategies into action?
To support both classroom instruction and student preparation, I’ve created a free resource you can download and use immediately:

Teacher Worksheet: A planning tool that outlines the instructional shifts, focus skills, and classroom practices aligned to the Enhanced ACT Math section.

Use this document in PLCs, tutoring sessions, benchmark cycles, or as part of your ACT prep curriculum.

👉 Download below and start preparing your students for the Enhanced ACT Math section TODAY.

ACT English, Rewritten: What’s New in the Enhanced Test and How to Prepare for 2025

Every Tuesday on The Scoreboard, we share practical, high-impact strategies to help teachers integrate ACT prep directly into Tier I instruction. Designed for Alabama educators and beyond, Tuesday Playbook connects strong classroom teaching to ACT College Readiness Benchmarks—turning daily lessons into measurable growth. From grammar warm-ups to critical reading routines, these easy-to-run “plays” help teachers build ACT-ready classrooms where every move counts.

If your students are preparing for the ACT in 2025 or beyond, it’s time to sit up and pay attention because the English section has gotten a makeover. The new 'Enhanced ACT' keeps the same 1-36 scoring scale, but with fewer questions, slightly more time per question, and a stronger emphasis on language usage and rhetorical clarity. In short, time is still tight, but the margin for error just got smaller. In this post, we’ll walk through what’s changed, why it matters, and how you can tweak your instructional and test-prep approach to help your students shine.

What’s Changing in the English Section

The Enhanced ACT rolled out in September 2025 for national paper administrations and will begin in spring 2026 for state and district testing.

Here are the major changes you and your students need to know:

1. Fewer questions and shorter section length

• The English section drops from 75 questions in 45 minutes to 50 questions in 35 minutes.

• That gives roughly 42 seconds per question instead of about 36 seconds per question previously.

• Because there are fewer questions, each one carries more “weight” in the score.

2. Same score scale, but composite calculation shifting

• The English section score will still be reported on the familiar 1–36 scale.

• The overall Composite score will now be the average of only English, Math, and Reading (Science becomes optional and no longer counts toward the composite) starting in September of 2026.

• Since English now carries a greater portion of the composite (because fewer sections contribute), strong performance here matters more.

3. Content domains remain, but proportions shift

• The broad domains in the English section remain: Production of Writing, Knowledge of Language, and Conventions of Standard English.

• However, the proportion of questions focusing on Conventions of Standard English (i.e., basic grammar-usage rules) is reduced to 38% - 43%, and more emphasis is placed on Production of Writing (rhetoric, clarity, transitions) and Knowledge of Language (style, tone, effective expression).

• ACT will also incorporate an argumentative passage within the English test, and those questions will be categorized under Production of Writing.

Another major update: every question in the Enhanced ACT English section now includes a written question stem, rather than just an underlined portion to edit. This change encourages students to think more critically about why an answer is correct — not just spot what “looks right.” In fact, this shift may have the greatest impact on overall performance, as it requires a deeper understanding of purpose, structure, and clarity, but is also beneficial to students in that the purpose of the question is now explicitly stated. 

The new question stems, aligned to each domain, include the following examples:

Conventions of Standard English:

• Which choice makes the sentence most grammatically correct?

• This is the ONLY stem for CSE, so students need to automatically understand that this indicates a grammar or punctuation question.

Production of Writing:

• If the writer were to delete the preceding sentence, the essay would primarily lose information that:

• Given that all the choices are accurate, which one provides the most relevant support for the primary claim in this sentence?

• At this point in the essay, the writer wants to introduce a counterclaim that ____. Which choice most effectively accomplishes that goal?

• Which choice provides the most effective conclusion for the paragraph and essay?

• The writer is considering adding the following assertion to the essay: _______. If the writer were to add the sentence, it would most logically be placed at:

• Which choice creates the clearest contrast between _____ and _____?

• Which transition word or phrase is most logical in context?

• If the writer were to delete the underlined portion, the essay would primarily lose a specific detail that:

• Which sequence of sentences makes this paragraph most logical?

• Which of the following sentences, if added here, would most effectively suggest that _____?

• Which choice provides the most specific description of _____?

• Suppose the writer’s primary purpose had been to discuss paintings that _____. Would this essay accomplish that purpose?

• Which choice most effectively leads the reader from the preceding paragraph to the information that follows in this paragraph?

Knowledge of Language:

• Which choice most effectively maintains the essay’s tone?

• Which choice is clearest and most precise in context?

• Which choice is least redundant in context?

Why These Changes Matter for Teachers & Students

• With fewer questions, each correct/incorrect answer has a larger impact. Previously, students could afford more misses and still maintain a high score; now the margin shrinks. The shift in domain weighting means that students who possess strong rhetorical and language-use skills (not just “grammar rules”) will likely excel.
  

• For teachers, instruction should balance traditional grammar/usage instruction with more emphasis on effective writing, transitions, and rhetorical clarity.
  

• For pacing and preparation, the section is slightly shorter, but time per question increases — yet the pace remains brisk. Students still need an efficient strategy.
  

• For test-prep materials: existing ACT prep books are still useful (the content is largely the same), but simulations must account for the shorter section/fewer questions.

Strategies to Improve Students’ ACT English Performance

If the Enhanced ACT English is shifting toward rhetorical awareness and language effectiveness (not just grammar), then our classroom strategies need to mirror that. Below is a research-aligned and ACT-specific guide for teaching the new English section through authentic, high-impact instruction.

1. Model the “Editor’s Mindset” (Think-Alouds)

Why it works: The new English questions emphasize Production of Writing — organization, focus, and clarity. Students need to think like editors, not proofreaders.

How to teach it:

• Use a paragraph from a student essay or article.

• Model aloud:

• “If I delete this phrase, does the paragraph stay focused?”

• “Does this transition move the reader smoothly from one idea to the next?”

• Have students practice the same process with color-coded reasoning 

• Highlight information that needs clarifying in yellow.

• Highlight locations that do not flow well in green.

• Highlight any information that diverts from the writing’s focus in pink.

Extension: Turn this into a “hot seat editor” activity where students defend their edits — great for metacognition and discussion.

2. Teach Grammar in Context (Mini-Lessons, Not Worksheets)

Why it works: ACT grammar rules (Conventions of Standard English) are predictable, so they can be taught repeatedly within small frames of time.

How to teach it:

• Use 5-minute mini-lessons on one rule (e.g., commas with nonrestrictive clauses).

• Follow immediately with a short paragraph from an ACT passage.

• Ask: “Which answer choice correctly applies today’s rule?”

• Have students write their own example sentences applying that skill.

Pro tip: Keep a running “Grammar Hall of Fame” board by adding one rule and a student-generated example each week. 

3. Use “Before & After” Revision Comparisons

Why it works:
Students need to recognize how small changes affect clarity and tone.

How to teach it:

• Present two versions of the same sentence or paragraph.

• Ask: “Which is more concise?” “Which maintains a formal tone?”

• Discuss why one version is better.

• Connect to ACT stems like “Which choice provides the most specific description of _____?”

Classroom routine: Include one “Before vs. After” example on your board or bellringer slide each day.

4. Incorporate Rhetorical Question Stems in Writing Assignments

Why it works: The new ACT blends grammar with author’s purpose. Embedding rhetorical stems into classroom writing connects daily work to ACT thinking.

How to teach it:

During peer review or writing workshops, ask students:

• “Which sentence best strengthens this argument?”

• “What revision clarifies the main idea?”

• “What transition improves flow between these ideas?”

These are almost verbatim ACT English question stems, which make perfect authentic prep.

5. Practice “Rationale Writing” for Multiple Choice

Why it works: Students often guess correctly but can’t explain why. Metacognition cements their learning.

How to teach it:
When reviewing practice questions:

• Require students to write a 1-sentence justification for their answer.

•  “I chose C because it’s concise and eliminates redundancy.”

• Compare reasoning with peers

Teacher move: Have students categorize each question by domain (POW, KOL, CSE) so you can see which skills need reteaching.

6. Gamify Review with Races

Why it works: Quick retrieval and competition boost engagement and retention.

How to teach it:

• Display a short passage with multiple errors.

• Teams race to fix all mistakes and justify each change.

• Award points for accuracy and rationale.

Classroom routine: Use it weekly as a “Friday Fix-It Challenge.” This also increases students’ ability to answer ACT questions more quickly.

The Enhanced ACT English section rewards clarity, structure, and purpose.The best classroom prep isn’t isolated drills, but teaching students to write and revise intentionally. When grammar, clarity, and rhetoric live in your daily lessons, test prep becomes seamless.

Bottom line: the skills your students need haven’t drastically changed, but the emphasis has shifted. Want ready-to-use practice sets tailored for the new English format? Stay tuned here at Test Prep Alabama, and let’s get your students rock-solid for the 2025-onward ACT.

SUPER Scoring To the Rescue!

Because learning — and scoring — is all about progress.

You’ve probably heard the term “superscore” floating around when it comes to college admissions or ACT prep. But what does it actually mean, and how can it help Alabama students maximize their college opportunities?

At Test Prep Alabama, we’re all about turning effort into progress. Superscoring is one of the most student-friendly changes the ACT has ever introduced — and understanding how it works could make a big difference in your future score.

What Is Superscoring?

Superscoring means combining your best section scores from multiple ACT test dates to create your highest possible composite score.

Here’s how it works:

• The ACT has three main sections — English, Math, and Reading. (Science was removed as a component that factors into the composite score in September of 2025.)

• Instead of using all three scores from a single test date, superscoring takes your best individual section score from each test you’ve taken.

• Those top scores are averaged together to create your ACT Superscore.

For example:

Test Date English Math Reading Composite

April 2024 23 21 26 23

June 2024 25 23 22 23

Superscore 25 23 26 25

That’s a two-point increase — without retaking the whole test perfectly.

Why Superscoring Benefits Students

Superscoring rewards growth over perfection. It acknowledges that learning is a process and that students improve over time.

Here’s why it matters:

• ✅ Less pressure per test: You can focus on improving one or two sections at a time.

• 📈 Higher reported scores: Many colleges now accept superscores, meaning your official record can reflect your best performance across attempts.

• 💪 Encourages persistence: You don’t have to get it all right the first time — you just have to keep improving.

• 🔢Test difficulty varies: If you keep taking the ACT, you’re bound to get some easier sections along the way.

Do Colleges Accept Superscores?

Yes — and the list is growing every year.
Most major universities, including many in the Southeast and across Alabama, now consider or even encourage ACT superscores.

Examples include:

• Auburn University

• University of Alabama (Admissions only)

• Samford University (Admissions only)

• Troy University

• University of South Alabama

Always double-check each school’s admissions website, but superscoring is quickly becoming the standard.

When Should You Retake the ACT?

Because of superscoring, retesting strategically can really pay off.

If you’ve already taken the ACT once, consider:

• Reviewing your score breakdown to see which sections have the most room for growth.

• Using targeted prep (like Test Prep Alabama’s personalized tutoring) to focus on those areas.

• Scheduling your next test date 6–8 weeks out to give yourself enough time to study and improve those specific sections.

Each retake is another opportunity to raise one or more section scores, which could push your superscore even higher.

🏁 Final Thoughts

Superscoring is proof that progress matters. It rewards effort, persistence, and smart preparation — all values we believe in at Test Prep Alabama.

If you’ve taken the ACT before, don’t think of it as a “one-and-done” test. Think of it as a series of chances to show how much you’ve grown.

📅 Ready to build your next best score?
Schedule a free consultation or diagnostic test at Test Prep Alabama — and let’s turn your hard work into a superscore you can be proud of.

How To Study For The ACT When You’re Busy With Sports, Work, and Life

Busy. That’s the word every student and parent seems to use these days — and for good reason. Between school, sports, work, and volunteering, today’s Alabama teens have schedules that rival most adults. It’s estimated that the average student spends five hours per week participating in extracurriculars, but 3–6% of kids are spending 20 hours or more each week.

With schedules this full, it’s no surprise that finding time to prepare for the ACT can feel overwhelming. Between practices, performances, and part-time shifts, test prep often gets pushed to the bottom of the list. But here’s the truth: effective ACT prep doesn’t have to mean giving up the activities students love. With the right plan — and a little structure — it’s possible to balance busy schedules and make meaningful progress toward higher scores.

At Test Prep Alabama, we’ve worked with busy students all across the state who’ve raised their ACT scores without giving up the activities they love. Whether you’re a varsity athlete, a marching band member, or balancing work after school, here’s how you can make ACT prep actually work for you.

1. Set Small, Consistent Study Goals

Consistency always beats cramming - just like slow and steady wins the race. Instead of marathon study sessions once a week, aim for 20–30 minutes a day, three to four days a week.

Tie your study time to a habit you already have — like right after dinner or before practice. When it’s part of your routine, it becomes automatic.

2. Use Study Tools That Fit Your Lifestyle

You don’t need to carry thick prep books everywhere you go. Use quick-access tools that make studying easier on the go:

• Digital practice tests that you can pull up on your phone or electronic device whenever you have extra time

• Video lessons to review difficult topics in bite-sized segments

• Practice tests you can split into smaller chunks over a few days

If you’ve got 15 minutes between classes or before work, that’s prime ACT review time.

3. Focus on Your Weakest Areas

Not all study time pays off equally. Focus on your lowest-scoring sections or question types.

Look at the breakdown of your latest ACT or practice test to see where you can get the biggest score boost. Even a few extra points in your weakest section can raise your overall composite significantly.

4. Create a Schedule That Works for You

Here’s a sample weekly schedule that’s worked for many Test Prep Alabama students:

Day Focus Area Time Needed

Monday English: commas + transitions 25 minutes

Wednesday Math: 5 practice problems + review 20 minutes

Thursday Reading: timed passage practice 20 minutes

Saturday Science: data analysis + review 30 minutes

When you spread your prep throughout the week, it feels manageable — and you’ll retain more along the way. Purposeful practice and review will equate to improvements as well.

5. Simulate the Real Test

Once every few weeks, take a timed practice section under realistic conditions — no phone, no breaks, and a strict timer.

Building endurance is one of the most overlooked parts of ACT prep, but it’s what helps you stay focused through all four sections on test day.

6. Stay Accountable

Having someone to check in with makes a big difference. A tutor, teacher, or even a friend can help keep you consistent.
At Test Prep Alabama, we help students create custom study plans that fit around school, sports, and jobs — so prep becomes part of your life, not an added stress.

Final Thoughts

You don’t have to give up your busy schedule to prepare for the ACT. With the right plan and a little consistency, you can balance everything — and still hit your goal score.

At Test Prep Alabama, we specialize in flexible, personalized ACT prep designed for real students with real commitments. Whether you prefer one-on-one tutoring, group sessions, or online prep, we’ll help you find the right fit to reach your college goals.

- Ashly J.