Multiple Testers: What Do We Know About Them - Technical Brief

Oct 9, 2026

ACT Technical Brief examines what is known about students who take the ACT multiple times (retesting) and how they compare with single-time test takers. It reports growth in retesting rates from 2009 to 2015 and outlines concerns about unequal access by race, family income, and parental education. Findings show repeat-testers with higher average composite gains, score distributions shifting upward with more testing sessions, and gain patterns influenced by starting score and time between tests.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

What Do We Know About Them?

What Does It Mean to Retest?

How Do Repeat-Testers Compare to Single-Time Testers?

What Can We Say About Repeat-Tested Scores?

Concluding Thoughts

ACT Research & Policy Technical Brief 2016 Matt Harmston is a senior research associate in Education and Workforce Research Services at ACT, specializing in secondary research and report development. Jill Crouse is a senior research associate in Education and Workforce Research Services at ACT, specializing in postsecondary research and report development. Multiple Testers: What Do We Know About Them? Matt Harmston, MA, and Jill Crouse, PhD What Does It Mean to Retest? The practice of taking the ACT® more than once (i.e., retesting) has grown over time. For instance, the percentage of 2009 ACT-tested students who took multiple tests prior to graduating from highschool was 41% . By 2015, this percentage had increased to 45% . At the same time, concerns over the impact of retesting also increased, particularly regarding disproportionate access among students of different ethnic groups, family incomes, and parental education levels. How Do Repeat-Testers Compare to Single-Time Testers? When comparing the characteristics of 2015 graduates who retested to those who did not, some clear distinctions emerge: • Repeat-testers’ latest scores had an average Composite score 2.9 points higher than their single-test counterparts. • The racial distribution of single-testers differed from that of repeat testers, particularly for white and Hispanic students. The percentage of single-testers who were white was eight points lower than in the population of repeattesters, and the percentage of single-testers who were Hispanic was six points higher than in the population of repeat-testers. • The percentages of single-testers in family income ranges below $36k were higher than those of repeat-testers. • The percentages of single-testers in family income ranges above $60k were at least three points lower than those of repeat-testers. • The percentages of single-testers with highest parental education levels of high school diploma/GED and below were at least 3% higher than those of repeat-testers. • The percentages of single-testers with parental education levels of a bachelor’s degree and above were at least 4% lower than those of repeat-testers. What Can We Say About Repeat-Tested Scores? Students who retake the ACT are generally looking to improve their scores. Of 2015 graduates who retested, 57% improved their Composite score on their second testing. However, 22% saw their Composite score decrease on their second test. To a point, students who retested multiple times tended todo better. The average final Composite score was consistently higher as the number of times students tested increased, reaching a ceiling with those who tested ten times (mean = 24. 5, ACT Technical Briefs provide reliability, validity, and other psychometric analyses on ACT education and workforce development assessments, services, and programs and those of its partners. For more on the ACT test, [visit www.act.org](visit www.act.org). © 2016 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved. ACT® is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc. 5195 n = 355) . As seen in Figure 1, distributions of final ACT Composite scores shifted up the score scale as the number of testing sessions increased. However, this graphic is limited in that it doesn’t speak to differences in student performance between specific test instances (e.g., first vs. second testing, fifth vs. sixth) . As referenced earlier, retesting at least once is associated with increases in average Composite scores when comparing first and second test instances. However, it is crucial to question why these gains occur. In fact, there are multiple factors that impact these gains, some of which are listed here. One factor rests in where students start on the score scale. The percentage of students increasing scores upon retest is higher when their initial score is low, as compared to gains made by students whose initial scores are high. The gain in average Composite scores could also be affected by

FAQs

How has retesting changed from 2009 to 2015?

The share of 2009 ACT-tested students who took multiple tests prior to graduating was 41%, rising to 45% by 2015. Concerns about the impact of retesting also increased over time.

How do repeat-testers’ composite score gains compare with single-time test takers?

Repeat-testers’ latest composite scores averaged 2.9 points higher than those of single-time test takers. Additionally, among 2015 graduates who retested, 57% improved their composite score on the second test while 22% decreased it.

What factors are associated with score gains when students retest?

Score gains are higher when students start with lower initial scores. Time between testing also matters, with greater curriculum coverage in the interval; larger average increases were observed for students first testing as sophomores than for juniors or seniors.

Oct 9, 2026

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