ACT records

Collection

Identifier: MsC1223

No requestable containers

Scope and Contents

This collection contains materials belonging to the American College Testing Program, the organization responsible for the construction and administration of the ACT assessment from the years 1959-2015. Donated to the University of Iowa in 2023, this collection consists primarily of papers, but some photographs and audiovisual materials can be found. A majority of the content in the ACT records is related to the assessment. This includes college and career readiness reports, ACT prep, ACT manuals, ACT workbooks, and ACT answer keys. National trends in scoring, surveys, and marketing materials. Postion papers and other ACT publications can be found in this collection on a wide variety of educational topics. Important things to note are the Professional papers of key figures within the organization, including co founder Ted McCarrel. ACT employment and facilities information, policies, and procedures including Affirmative Action reports.

Dates

Creation: 1959-2015

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research. This collection is stored offsite; please allow 2-3 business days for retrieval.

Conditions Governing Use

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The donor owns copyright in some of the collection, however, the collection may also contain materials from other individuals who may own the copyright, nor do they intend to assign copyright ownership to the University. The donor acknowledges that some of the discretionary uses incidental to the donated materials' inclusion in the collections of the university(including, but not limited to, exhibition, display, and research access) may involve the exercise of their rights as the copyright owner in the Donated Materials. To the extent that such uses are not already permitted under statutory copyright exceptions (including, but not limited to, fair use), the donor grants the University an irrevocable non-exclusive royalty-free worldwide perpetual license for all common discretionary uses.

Copyright status for other collection materials may be unknown.Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner.  Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility and potential liability based on copyright infringement for any use rests exclusively and solely with the user. Users must properly acknowledge University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections and Archives as the source of the material. For further information, visit the Special Collections and Archives website.

Biographical / Historical

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The American College Testing Program is the organization that administers and develops the ACT assessment, and was founded in 1959 by Lindquist and McCarrel. "Headquartered in Iowa City, Iowa, ACT is known for many programs related to education at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. ACT also conducts and publishes research on educational topics." "The organization also has a voice in educational policy, and it has published position papers on a variety of issues in education and workforce development." The data and materials found in this collection can help provide a snapshot of educational trends in the Midwest throughout the latter half of the twentieth century.

The ACT was introduced in 1959 by E. Lindquist (1901-1978), a professor of education at the University of Iowa as an answer to the SAT that would examine with an emphasis on practical knowledge.The ACT was the result of a team effort led by the lindquist and University of Iowa registrar Ted McCarrel, and the test was first administered to 75,000 students in in 1959. "The notion of testing for academic achievement rather than innate intelligence has been the guiding philosophy of the ACT for its entire existence." The ACT was revised in the 1980s, and the new version of the test was first administered to students in 1989, with sections revised again in 2005.