ACT Now - Quick Start Guide - Managing Organizations: Contracts and Test Administration

Oct 9, 2026

Upload by SANS

ACT Now Quick Start Guide explains how a contract coordinator manages organizations for test administration. It covers adding organizations to a contract, inviting organizations to participate, and confirming participation status. Two onboarding approaches are provided: add/invite individually or add/invite multiple organizations through CSV file upload. The guide also describes the organization master and participation file layouts, required fields and data rules, and how to grant district test coordinator and organization invitation importer roles when needed.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryTechnology

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

Managing organizations

Add organizations to a contract

Add organizations individually

Add multiple organizations via file upload

Guidelines for completing the Organization Master File layout requirements

Invite organizations to participate in a test administration

More information

ACT Now QUICK START GUIDE Managing Organizations: Contracts and Test Administration PROGRAM: STATE, DISTRICT | PRODUCT: THE ACT, PREACT ASSESSMENTS, WORKKEYS | AUDIENCE: CONTRACT COORDINATOR, DISTRICT TEST COORDINATOR (WITH ORGANIZATION INVITATION IMPORTER ROLE) Managing organizations: This document contains information to help the contract coordinator do the following in ACT® Now: 􀁺 Add organizations to a contract. 􀁺 Invite organizations to participate in a test administration. Note: Organizations only need to be added once; after that, only the invitation step is required for any future administrations. Importer role: If a district test coordinator is authorized to invite an organization to a test administration, the contract coordinator should grant them both the district test coordinator AND organization invitation importer roles. Methods There are two methods for adding and inviting organizations: 􀁺 Add/invite organizations individually. 􀁺 Add/invite multiple organizations via file upload. File Layouts/Templates The following file layouts and templates for the upload files are in ACT Now and on your ACT-hosted web page: 􀁺 Organization Master File: To add organizations to your contract 􀁺 Participation File: To invite organizations to participate in a test administration Add Organizations to a Contract 1. Make sure you’re in the correct ACT Now administration by selecting the down arrow at the top of your ACT Now screen. 2. Select the program, administration, and organization, and then the Save selection button. 3. Select the Open Contract page button. Add Organizations Individually 1. Select the Add new organization button. 2. Fill out the required information in the pop-up window. Add Multiple Organizations via File Upload 1. Select the Files tab. 2. Select ACT Now Guidelines to download the Organization Master File layout requirements. Review the data required. 3. Select Download Template to download the Organization Master File template. 4. Create your Organization Master File referring as needed to the guidelines on the next page for completing the file layout requirements. 5. Save the file as a .csv file, and then select Upload File to add the file of organizations. 6. Select Upload File again to process the file. Guidelines for Completing the Organization Master File Layout Requirements Refer to these guidelines as needed to clarify what data should be provided for each field in the template when adding organizations: 􀁺 Organization Type o For district testing, only schools that are part of your organization need to be listed. The organization type for each school is School. Do not list a row for the district. The district code is listed as the parent organization code. o If you’re a single school district, add your school into ACT Now. 􀁺 Parent Organization Code o Enter the number located to the right of your district’s name within ACT Now. 􀁺 Local Organization Code o Enter the code assigned to each school, typically by your state department of education. Note: If no local organization code is available, you may use the ACTassigned organization code as the local organization code. 􀁺 Organization Name o Use the official school name. Note: If your school had a name change, uploading the new name in ACT Now won’t update the name within other ACT systems. Submit the High School File Change form if needed. 􀁺 Address 1 o Enter the physical street address for the school. o Do not enter PO box numbers. 􀁺 Address 2 o If needed, use this optional field to complete the physical street address. 􀁺 City o Enter the full city name. 􀁺 ST o Enter the two-letter state abbreviation. 􀁺 ZIP Code o Enter a five-digit ZIP code. 􀁺 ACT Organization Code o Enter the six-digit code ACT assigned to each organization. o Use the ACT High School Codes Look-Up website to search for the school if needed. Invite Organizations to Participat

FAQs

How often do you need to add organizations to a contract in ACT Now?

Organizations only need to be added once. After that, future administrations require only the invitation step.

What are the two methods to add and invite organizations in ACT Now?

You can add/invite organizations individually or add/invite multiple organizations via file upload.

What roles should be granted when a district test coordinator is authorized to invite organizations?

The contract coordinator should grant both the district test coordinator role and the organization invitation importer role.

Oct 9, 2026

Upload by SANS