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A Synthesis of ACT Research Examining COVID's Impact on College Readiness, Career Plans, and Prediction of College Success. ACT Research. Issue Brief. R2420

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Title: A Synthesis of ACT Research Examining COVID's Impact on College Readiness, Career Plans, and Prediction of College Success. ACT Research. Issue Brief. R2420
Language: English
Authors: Riley N. Loria, Edgar I. Sanchez, ACT Education Corp.
Source: ACT Education Corp. 2025.
Availability: ACT Education Corp. 500 ACT Drive, P.O. Box 168, Iowa City, IA 52243-0168. Tel: 319-337-1270; Web site: http://www.act.org
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 10
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Education
High Schools
Secondary Education
Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: COVID-19, Pandemics, Barriers, Career Readiness, Career Planning, Academic Achievement, Outcomes of Education, Scores, Educational Experience, Elementary School Students, High School Students, Student Characteristics, Race, Ethnicity, Gender Differences, Socioeconomic Status, Career Choice, Predictive Validity, College Entrance Examinations
Geographic Terms: Arkansas, Nebraska
Assessment and Survey Identifiers: ACT Assessment
Abstract: The worldwide consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic affected virtually every domain of human life. The pandemic's impact on the education and development of children and adolescents was particularly severe given the closure of schools, shifts to online learning, and cancelation of college entrance exam administrations early in the pandemic. These drastic changes in education and learning assessment methods, as well as the social and emotional turmoil presented by the pandemic, led many to question how student learning outcomes might change. Many predicted that time spent out of school, combined with the compounding anxieties associated with the unprecedented circumstances, might lead to worse educational outcomes. Researchers at ACT invested a great deal of time and effort in examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student outcomes and experiences. This paper highlights and summarizes this work. The authors describe these projects in order of student age and grade level, beginning with assessments of the pandemic's impact on ACT® Aspire® scores (test takers in Grades 3 through 10), followed by research on PreACT® outcomes (test takers primarily in Grade 10), research on outcomes/differential outcomes on the ACT® test by demographic, and research on students' career choices and the predictive validity of precollege achievement measures before and after the onset of the pandemic. By examining these findings in conjunction with each other, the overarching effects of pandemic-related changes on educational outcomes can be more clearly seen. This synthesis includes findings from ten papers, some of which contain multiple studies. The authors have grouped these by their main outcome measures and briefly review the methods and results for each paper, dividing the paper into relevant studies where needed. The report begins by describing common features across all studies, then move to describing the papers themselves.
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: ED673793
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
  Availability: 0
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  Data: A Synthesis of ACT Research Examining COVID's Impact on College Readiness, Career Plans, and Prediction of College Success. ACT Research. Issue Brief. R2420
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  Data: ACT Education Corp. 500 ACT Drive, P.O. Box 168, Iowa City, IA 52243-0168. Tel: 319-337-1270; Web site: http://www.act.org
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  Data: 10
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  Label: Geographic Terms
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Arkansas%22">Arkansas</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Nebraska%22">Nebraska</searchLink>
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  Data: The worldwide consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic affected virtually every domain of human life. The pandemic's impact on the education and development of children and adolescents was particularly severe given the closure of schools, shifts to online learning, and cancelation of college entrance exam administrations early in the pandemic. These drastic changes in education and learning assessment methods, as well as the social and emotional turmoil presented by the pandemic, led many to question how student learning outcomes might change. Many predicted that time spent out of school, combined with the compounding anxieties associated with the unprecedented circumstances, might lead to worse educational outcomes. Researchers at ACT invested a great deal of time and effort in examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student outcomes and experiences. This paper highlights and summarizes this work. The authors describe these projects in order of student age and grade level, beginning with assessments of the pandemic's impact on ACT® Aspire® scores (test takers in Grades 3 through 10), followed by research on PreACT® outcomes (test takers primarily in Grade 10), research on outcomes/differential outcomes on the ACT® test by demographic, and research on students' career choices and the predictive validity of precollege achievement measures before and after the onset of the pandemic. By examining these findings in conjunction with each other, the overarching effects of pandemic-related changes on educational outcomes can be more clearly seen. This synthesis includes findings from ten papers, some of which contain multiple studies. The authors have grouped these by their main outcome measures and briefly review the methods and results for each paper, dividing the paper into relevant studies where needed. The report begins by describing common features across all studies, then move to describing the papers themselves.
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 10
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: COVID-19
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Pandemics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Barriers
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Career Readiness
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      – SubjectFull: Career Planning
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      – SubjectFull: Academic Achievement
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      – SubjectFull: Outcomes of Education
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      – SubjectFull: Scores
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      – SubjectFull: Educational Experience
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      – SubjectFull: Elementary School Students
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      – SubjectFull: High School Students
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      – SubjectFull: Student Characteristics
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      – SubjectFull: Race
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      – SubjectFull: Ethnicity
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      – SubjectFull: Gender Differences
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      – SubjectFull: Socioeconomic Status
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      – SubjectFull: Career Choice
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Predictive Validity
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      – SubjectFull: College Entrance Examinations
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      – SubjectFull: Arkansas
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      – SubjectFull: Nebraska
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      – SubjectFull: ACT Assessment
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      – TitleFull: A Synthesis of ACT Research Examining COVID's Impact on College Readiness, Career Plans, and Prediction of College Success. ACT Research. Issue Brief. R2420
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