ACT Student Learning & Development 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following is an example of formative assessment in the context of student learning?
- A final exam administered at the end of a semester
- A standardized test used for college admissions
- A teacher using exit tickets to gauge daily comprehension (Correct answer)
- A portfolio reviewed at the end of the school year
Correct answer: A teacher using exit tickets to gauge daily comprehension
Formative assessments are ongoing, low-stakes checks used to monitor and guide student learning in real time.
Question 2: A high school student who was an average achiever suddenly shows dramatic improvement after switching to a study method that emphasizes self-testing. This best illustrates which learning principle?
- Massed practice
- The testing effect (retrieval practice) (Correct answer)
- Observational learning
- Negative reinforcement
Correct answer: The testing effect (retrieval practice)
The testing effect demonstrates that actively retrieving information strengthens memory more than passive re-reading.
Question 3: When ACT accommodations documentation refers to a student's 'functional limitation,' it most specifically means:
- The academic subject in which the student performs lowest
- The way a disability impacts the student's ability to perform specific tasks (Correct answer)
- The student's IQ score relative to the norm group
- The number of classes the student has failed
Correct answer: The way a disability impacts the student's ability to perform specific tasks
Functional limitations describe how a disability specifically affects a student's performance on real-world tasks, justifying testing accommodations.
Question 4: Erikson's stage of 'Identity vs. Role Confusion' is most relevant to which age group typically taking the ACT?
- Early childhood (ages 3–6)
- Middle childhood (ages 6–12)
- Adolescence (ages 12–18) (Correct answer)
- Early adulthood (ages 18–40)
Correct answer: Adolescence (ages 12–18)
Erikson placed the Identity vs. Role Confusion stage in adolescence, the period when most students take the ACT.
Question 5: A student with ADHD is approved for extended time on the ACT. The primary rationale for this accommodation is that ADHD can impair:
- Subject matter knowledge
- Sustained attention and executive function during timed tasks (Correct answer)
- Reading decoding ability
- Visual-spatial processing
Correct answer: Sustained attention and executive function during timed tasks
ADHD affects executive functions including sustained attention, working memory, and impulse control — all of which timed testing demands.
Question 6: Which learning style framework, though widely used in schools, has been criticized by researchers for lacking empirical support for matching instruction to individual styles?
- Bloom's Taxonomy
- Multiple Intelligences Theory
- VARK (Visual, Auditory, Reading, Kinesthetic) (Correct answer)
- Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Correct answer: VARK (Visual, Auditory, Reading, Kinesthetic)
VARK-based learning styles instruction is popular but research has not supported the premise that matching teaching to preferred style improves outcomes.
Question 7: A test center coordinator receives a request for a student to test in a separate room. Under ACT policy, this accommodation is primarily intended to address:
- Students who prefer quieter environments personally
- Students whose documented disability is adversely affected by group testing conditions (Correct answer)
- Any student with an IEP regardless of the nature of the disability
- Students who have previously been disqualified from testing
Correct answer: Students whose documented disability is adversely affected by group testing conditions
Separate room accommodation is approved when documentation shows the student's disability is specifically impaired by standard group testing conditions.
ACT Student Learning & Development 3
Which of the following is an example of formative assessment in the context of student learning?