Special Education News in Brief

ACT Streamlines System for Special-Needs Students

By Catherine Gewertz — May 31, 2016 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

ACT Inc., which has been criticized for making it hard for students to get accommodations on its college-entrance exam, announced last week that it is taking steps to make the process easier.

With the new system, students will register online for the test and work with a school counselor, or someone else, to request accommodations online, ACT said. The system will ask that a student submit “only the documentation needed for the student’s particular diagnosis, eliminating the need to send unnecessary support materials,” ACT said.

The company said that, based on pilots it has conducted of the new system, students should be able to receive answers to their accommodations requests 10 days sooner, on average. But ACT spokesman Ed Colby said that while the new system is intended to make the system easier to use, the ACT doesn’t anticipate that it will result in more approvals of requested accommodations.

A version of this article appeared in the June 01, 2016 edition of Education Week as ACT Streamlines System for Special-Needs Students

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Science Webinar
Spark Minds, Reignite Students & Teachers: STEM’s Role in Supporting Presence and Engagement
Is your district struggling with chronic absenteeism? Discover how STEM can reignite students' and teachers' passion for learning.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
Recruitment & Retention Webinar EdRecruiter 2025 Survey Results: The Outlook for Recruitment and Retention
See exclusive findings from EdWeek’s nationwide survey of K-12 job seekers and district HR professionals on recruitment, retention, and job satisfaction. 
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Special Education Schools Lag in IDing Kids Who Need Special Education. Are They Catching Up?
Schools in one state are making progress addressing a pandemic-fueled backlog of special education identifications.
5 min read
Illustration of a young girl with hands on her head, having difficulty reading with scrambled letters on the pages of an open book.
iStock/Getty
Special Education 3 Things Every Teacher Should Know About Learning Differences
A researcher, a teacher, and a student all weigh in: What do you wish all teachers knew about students with learning differences?
3 min read
Photograph showing a red bead standing out from blue beads on an abacus.
iStock/Getty
Special Education How Special Education Might Change Under Trump: 5 Takeaways
Less funding and more administrative chaos could be on the horizon—but basic building blocks like IDEA appear likely to remain.
7 min read
Photo of teacher working with hearing-impaired student.
E+
Special Education How Trump's Policies Could Affect Special Education
The new administration's stance on special education isn't yet clear—but efforts to revamp federal policy could have ripple effects.
13 min read
A teenage girl from the back looks through the bars, the fenced barrier, at the White House in Washington, D.C.
iStock/Getty Images