Important changes coming to high school testing

This school year marks the beginning of important changes in high school state testing in South

Carolina. The High School Assessment Program (HSAP) will no longer be given. Instead, students in their third year of high school will take two assessments: The ACT, a college and career readiness assessment, and WorkKeys®, which measures essential workforce skills. Both assessments will be administered as paper and pencil tests.

In Richland Two and across the state, students will take:

• ACT on April 28
• WorkKeys on April 29

ACT

The ACT test is a college entrance exam covering English, reading, math, and science, and writing. It measures what students have learned in high school coursework. The timed-test includes multiple-choice questions and a writing portion. All 11th grade students in South Carolina are eligible for FREE online ACT® preparation courses.

For more information on ACT:

• To see lists of the specific state-allowed accommodations, click here. Please note that if used, these allowable accommodations will result in scores that are valid for state and federal accountability purposes, but will not result in college reportable scores. To learn which ACT, Inc. accommodations are approved for reporting scores to colleges, click here. For comprehensive resources on testing accommodations for The ACT®, click here.
• Click here to read an overview that includes information on how the ACT is scored and what the score means provided by the S.C. Education Oversight Committee. 
• Click here to view information about the ACT on the S.C. Department of Education’s website. This site includes information on number and content of multiple choice question, amount of time allowed to complete each section and accommodations.
• Click here to read the “Preparing for the ACT” booklet. This booklet includes full-length practice tests, information about the writing tests and strategies for the tests.

WorkKeys
The WorkKeys® assessment measures “real world” skills that employers believe are critical to job success. Test questions are based on situations in the everyday work world.
The timed-test consists of three parts with 45 minutes per section:

1. Applied Mathematics (33 items)
   Click here to review sample questions.
2. Reading for Information (33 items)
   Click here to review sample questions.
3. Locating Information (38 items)
   Click here to review sample questions.

Learn more about testing accommodations for special needs students for ACT Workkeys® here.

For more information on WorkKeys including what a WorkKeys score means and how results will be used, click here to read information provided by the S.C. Education Oversight Committee.