On Oct. 23, 2024, freshmen, sophomores and juniors took the PreACT online. This came along with Illinois’ decision to switch from mandating the SAT to the ACT. The change followed the end of the Illinois State Board of Education’s (ISBE) contract with College Board for administering the SAT on June 30, 2024.

Following the end of the contract, state law required that the ISBE issue a “competitive procurement,” a process in which different organizations “compete” to become the supplier for something. This procurement was for the 2024-25 school year administration of the high school accountability assessment, which, according to Western Washington University, is a set of initiatives taken to monitor the results of actions and to penalize or reward based on the outcomes. In this case, the set of initiatives that are being monitored are students’ test scores. According to the ISBE, three elements were taken into consideration: technical specifications, commitment to diversity and price. The winner was determined by which organization scored the most points based on these three elements. The ACT received the most points.

At East, juniors were still required to take the 2024 PSAT/NMSQT. The National Merit Scholarship Program uses this test to identify eligible students, which is why it was administered along with the PreACT for freshman and sophomores and Horizon ACT for juniors. 50,000 high-scoring students chosen by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation will be eligible.

Although juniors had to take an additional test this fall, the Illinois Science Assessment will no longer be required; Illinois’ administration of ACT will include English language arts, math, reading, science, and writing.

In the spring, juniors will take the ACT online. Freshmen and sophomores will continue to take the PreACT. Composite scores on the ACT range from 1-36, and writing domain scores range from 2-12.