CPS Announces “PreACT 9 Secure” as New CPS High School Entrance Exam

Yesterday, CPS announced to school leaders that, beginning this fall, the CPS HSAT test will be replaced by a new exam, the PreACT 9 Secure. This test will be the new exam used for the GoCPS high school admissions process, and will be offered to all 8th-grade students.

Overall, students can expect the following changes when taking the new exam:

• The PreACT 9 Secure is a longer test than the CPS HSAT. The CPS HSAT lasted one hour, while the PreACT 9 Secure will last approximately two and a half hours.

• The PreACT 9 Secure includes 4 sections, while the CPS HSAT only included 2. The CPS HSAT had a 30-minute Math section and a 30-minute Reading section; the PreACT 9 Secure will have a 35-minute ELA section, a 40-minute Reading section, a 45-minute Math section, and a 35-minute Science section.

• The PreACT 9 Secure will only be available in English, though it will still have accommodations for ESL students. The CPS HSAT had been available in multiple languages, but the PreACT 9 Secure will not have this option available.

CPS has cited the following reasons for this adjustment:

• The PreACT 9 Secure provides more information to high school staff on students entering their 9th-grade course. As the PreACT 9 Secure has four sections (Math, Reading, ELA, and Science) and tests more skills than the CPS HSAT, it can be used for more than just admissions, providing high schools with meaningful information on student performance that can lead to course placement and programming decisions.

• The PreACT 9 Secure aligns with the ACT. This will help students gain experience with the structure of the ACT, which they will take later in high school. CPS now administers the ACT to all CPS high school students.

• The PreACT 9 Secure has more publicly available information and content. The CPS HSAT did not have information publicly available regarding length, sections included, and content. The PreACT 9 Secure is a test used across the country, meaning that students will now have more access to information about what to expect on the exam. Additionally, because the exam is widely used, there will be greater access to free or low-cost test prep resources.

• The PreACT 9 Secure is a tested, stable platform. In the past, students encountered multiple issues with the platform used for the CPS HSAT. The PreACT platform has stronger, more stable technology and security.

Note that Test Prep Chicago is a licensed participant in the NTPA ACT Affiliate Tutor Program. Through our connection, we have been aware that such a change might occur, and our team had already begun creating new PreACT 9 Secure curriculum. As such, students enrolled or looking to enroll in any courses or one-day workshops, or students beginning individual tutoring, can be assured that the content they are being taught will reflect the content seen on the new exam. All of our scheduled courses (sign up here) and one-day Palooza workshops (sign up here) will continue to run as planned, as will our individual tutoring sessions (sign up here), with the new PreACT 9 Secure content instead of the old CPS HSAT curriculum.

Proposed Changes to the Process of Holding CPS Students Back

Chicago Public Schools are considering a change to the process of holding students back. During the first two years of the pandemic, the school district did not hold any students back, due to the disruptions caused by remote learning and school closures. Now, long-term changes are being considered to help address declining rates in academic performance.

A new proposal would end the use of test scores when deciding whether to advance a student to the next grade. Instead, grades in science and social studies courses would be considered in their place, in addition to math and reading.

This proposal is part of a years-long trend of relaxing guidelines for grade promotion. Holding students back has been shown to harm rather than help their prospects, and can result in frustration and stigmatization for affected students, who are disproportionately Black and Latino. Additionally, retention has been correlated with increased risk that a student will drop out of school completely.

Focusing on a student’s course grades rather than standardized test scores also allows a school to support students with direct interventions that can more effectively address individual needs and avoid any surprises when it comes to test scoring.

Anna Jordan, Tutoring Coordinator
anna@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266