Akron Promise is dedicated to post secondary academic success. ACT scores are used to both place students in remedial classes and to determine scholarship eligibility. For instance, the Innovation Generation Scholarship at the University of Akron provides a full scholarship for students that earn a 24 score on the ACT under certain conditions.
At Stark State College, students need an 18 on the English portion of the ACT in order to avoid remedial English once enrolled at Stark State. Many students who take remedial courses in college never continue past the remedial work into their college level coursework. Students who do continue have utilized their monetary resources (cash, financial aid, and loans) to complete the remedial work and are at further risk of running out of resources before successfully completing their education
Akron Promise is supporting various ACT score improvement initiatives to assist students in achieving the scores required for scholarships, admission, and to avoidance of remedial classes. In addition, while working with the students, these programs reinforce the importance of doing well in their high school English and math coursework.
We are piloting the ACT score improvement program at Kenmore-Garfield High School. As we examine the results of these initiatives, we intend to expand access to larger cohorts of students and at more schools in the Akron Public School system.