ACT Practice Test Guide 2026-2027 Review

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering the structural components, scoring methods, testing strategies, and subject-specific terminology found in the Preparing for the ACT Test 2026-2027 guide.

ACT Composite Score

A single score between $1$ and $36$ calculated by adding the English, Mathematics, and Reading scale scores and dividing the sum by $3$, rounding to the nearest whole number.

Scale Scores

Scores ranging from $1$ to $36$ converted from raw scores to adjust for small differences in difficulty among different versions of the $ACT$ test.

One and One-Half Time

An accommodation providing $50\%$ additional time on multiple-choice and writing sections for students with diagnosed disabilities or limited English proficiency.

Superscore

A score calculated by $ACT$ using a student’s best individual section scores from all test administrations rather than results from a single sitting.

Test Date Change

A request that cannot be made once an examinee has accessed test content; if a section is not completed, the student must re-register and pay for a new test date.

Raw Score

The number of questions answered correctly in each section, excluding embedded field test items which do not contribute to the final score.

Conventions of Standard English

An English section reporting category ($38$-$43\%$) assessing the application of grammar, usage, and mechanics, including sentence structure and punctuation.

Production of Writing

An English section reporting category ($38$-$43\%$) assessing the understanding of the purpose, focus, organization, unity, and cohesion of a text.

Preparing for Higher Math

A Mathematics section category covering $80\%$ of the test, including Number & Quantity, Algebra, Functions, Geometry, and Statistics & Probability.

Integrating Essential Skills

A Mathematics section reporting category ($20\%$) assessing the ability to solve complex, non-routine problems involving rates, percentages, and proportional relationships.

Modeling

A Mathematics category representing all questions that involve producing, interpreting, understanding, and evaluating mathematical models.

Key Ideas & Details

A Reading section category ($44$-$52\%$) assessing the ability to identify central themes, summarize information, and draw logical inferences.

Craft & Structure

A Reading section reporting category ($26$-$33\%$) focusing on word meanings, authorial perspective, text structure, and rhetorical decisions.

Interpretation of Data

A Science section reporting category ($38$-$50\%$) requiring the analysis of scientific data in tables, graphs, and diagrams, such as recognizing trends or interpolating.

Evaluation of Scientific Arguments and Models

A Science section reporting category ($24$-$38\%$) assessing the ability to judge the validity of scientific information and formulate conclusions.

Ideas and Analysis (Writing)

A writing domain score addressing the ability to engage with multiple perspectives on an issue and establish a context for analysis.

Paj Ntaub

Meaning "flower cloth" embroidery, this is considered the most difficult of the centuries-old $Hmong$ needlework arts, often featuring intricate spirals and rosettes.

Broken Tulip

A seventeenth-century tulip variety exhibiting unpredictable color patterns caused by a virus that suppressed anthocyanin, making the bulbs highly valuable.

$$Myzus\,persicae$$

The peach potato aphid identified in the $1920\text{s}$ as the vector responsible for spreading the virus that created broken tulips.

Visible Storage

Also known as open storage, a museum method that displays many artifacts in high-density, often floor-to-ceiling arrangements to maximize public access.

Living Fossil

A term for species like crocodiles thought to have emerged in the distant past and remained unchanged, a theory challenged by molecular evidence showing recent speciation.

$$Crocodylus\,suchus$$

A smaller, less aggressive species of crocodile in the West, distinct from the typical Nile crocodile ($Crocodylus\,niloticus$) of the East.

B-boying

A term for hip-hop break dancing, characterized by face-to-face interaction and often described as an "advertisement with no product" in mass media contexts.

Specific Growth Rate ($SGR$)

The percent increase in length per day used to measure how diet and stocking density affect the growth of $Amphiprion\,percula$ (clownfish).

Dissolved Organic Carbon ($DOC$)

Organic compounds leached from decaying tree leaves in lakes that can be removed if adsorbed by clay mineral particles in the sediment.

Planck's Constant ($h$)

A fundamental constant in the equation $E = hf$, relating the energy of a photon ($E$) to its frequency ($f$).