Montana Students to Take ACT, Not Smarter Balanced Exams

Montana juniors will now take the ACT as a statewide standardized test, replacing a days-long system that faced a number of difficulties in the past.

The Billings Gazette reports that Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau announced Monday that the ACT would replace the Smarter Balanced exams. All juniors already take the ACT. Juneau says the move will cut standardized testing time by two-thirds.

The ACT is commonly used as a college entrance exam or to gauge career readiness. The test is not specifically aligned to Montana content standards adopted in 2011, but the test was changed in 2012 as many states adopted Common Core standards.

The Smarter Balanced exams suffered technical glitches in the spring that may have compromised the validity of result.