Student Achievement, Behavior, Perceptions, and Other Factors Affecting ACT Scores. ACT Research Report Series, 2006-1.

In this study, we investigated factors related to students’ performance on the ACT. We examined how students’ background characteristics, academic achievement in high school, education-related accomplishments and activities, and perceptions of self and others affect their ACT scores. Of particular interest were the direct and indirect effects of students’ background characteristics, given their other characteristics. To study this issue, we estimated a multi-group, multi-level structural model. We found that among both African American and Caucasian American students, ACT Composite score was directly influenced only by academic achievement in high school. Family income, parents’ level of education, and number of negative situations in the home were related to ACT Composite score only indirectly, through education-related accomplishments and activities, perceptions of self and others, and academic achievement. Moreover, education-related accomplishments and activities and perceptions of self and others had only indirect effects through academic achievement. These findings showed that, regardless of their race/ethnicity, students can increase their chances of doing well on the ACT, and thus increase their chances o f enrolling and succeeding in

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