I've been hearing about the ACT scale score chart, but I'm not exactly sure how it works. Can someone help explain how the scale score chart works and how my raw scores get converted into a final ACT score? Any help would be much appreciated!
The ACT scale score chart is a conversion tool that takes your raw score on each section of the test and converts it into a scale score ranging from 1 to 36. The raw score is the number of correctly answered questions in each section of the test. The scale score, on the other hand, accounts for the varying difficulty of each test by standardizing scores across different versions of the test. Let me break it down for you:
1. Raw scores: In each section of the ACT (English, Math, Reading, and Science), you receive a raw score, which is the number of questions you answered correctly. There are 75 questions in the English section, 60 in Math, 40 in Reading, and 40 in Science.
2. Scale score conversion: Using the ACT scale score chart, your raw score in each section gets converted into a scale score ranging from 1 to 36. The scale score chart is updated for each test administration to account for slight differences in difficulty between test versions. This ensures that a scale score of, say, 30 in one test administration represents the same level of proficiency as a 30 in another administration, despite potential differences in question difficulty.
3. Composite score: To determine your composite ACT score, which also ranges from 1 to 36, the scale scores of all four sections are added together and then divided by 4. If the result contains a decimal, the composite score is rounded to the nearest whole number. For example, if your scale scores are 28 in English, 30 in Math, 29 in Reading, and 32 in Science, your composite score would be (28 + 30 + 29 + 32) / 4 = 29.75, which rounds up to 30.
Keep in mind that the ACT scale score chart can vary between test administrations, so it's important to refer to the specific chart that corresponds to your test date. You can find this information in your score report or on the ACT's official website. While studying and practicing for the ACT, you may come across different charts for various test versions, but they should give you a general idea of how your raw scores will be converted to scale scores.
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