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Education@Iowa Education at Iowa The University of Iowa The College of Education Fall 2009 Edition

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Features     Departments     New Faculty     Around the College     Alumni Notes     In Your Own Words     In Memoriam
ACT’s 50th Anniversary     Dickson     Lewis     McElvain & Greiner     Watzke     Ballou     McRae

Testing the Limits--ACT Celebrates 50 Years of Testing

What started with just an idea is now a multi-faceted, multi-national, multi-million dollar enterprise

 

Richard Ferguson, CEO and board chairman of ACT, stood before a crowd of 150 University, testing, business, and government leaders gathered in the Old Capitol Senate Chamber to celebrate his company’s 50th anniversary.

“How many of you have taken the ACT?” he asked.


Nearly every hand in the room went up.


ACT, best known for its college entrance exam, started with an idea from a professor in The University of Iowa College of Education. It has grown into a multi-faceted, multi-national, multi-million dollar enterprise. And the nonprofit continues to enjoy a strong bond with its founding institution.


Leonard Feldt stands next to a portrait of his mentor, E.F. LindquistProfessor Emeritus Leonard Feldt (PhD ’54) was invited to sit in the front row at the anniversary event and realized he was one of only a few people present who not only remembered ACT’s launch, but was there, helping make it happen.


Feldt had been a graduate assistant for E.F. Lindquist (PhD ‘27), the legendary professor of Measurement and Statistics at the College of Education. Lindquist had already created the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the Iowa Test of Educational Development. In the 1950s he recognized a need for a new college entrance exam to serve public universities and smaller colleges in the way that the College Board’s SAT served elite, private universities.


Feldt remembers that prior to the late 1950s, the standard for Iowa’s three universities was to accept students who placed in the top half of their high school classes. But more and more students who met that criterion began applying for admission.


“It became a strain on the universities,” Feldt said. “So this was the motivation Lindquist had. He threw himself into the idea of implementing a college-entrance examination system and organization.”


Lindquist joined forces with Ted McCarrel, UI dean of admissions and registrar to found The American College Testing Program.


Feldt remembers that when Lindquist was working on a new idea, he devoted himself to it, spending “23 ½ hours a day” engrossed in it. But once he had the concept in place, he preferred to step aside and let others implement his ideas.

That’s where Feldt came in.


Feldt, then an assistant professor, was charged with creating the first American College Testing Program exam. He visited experts at universities around the country and recruited them to write questions. He also served as a writer and editor for the first six batteries of the exam.


McCarrel also had an assistant: Arthur Mittman (PhD ’58), then director of the University Examination Service. Mittman traveled to universities recruiting them to use the test.


Early ACT employees were housed in University of Iowa offices. The first test item writers were paid out of the College of Education’s budget since ACT didn’t yet have any income of its own.


Even though he trusted Lindquist’s vision, Feldt said he never imagined ACT would grow from its humble beginnings into the powerhouse it is today.


“I believed in what he believed in and I knew the test would find a market in universities and colleges of every size,” he said. “I knew it would grow, but I am just amazed.”


Ferguson quantified ACT’s growth for the anniversary celebration audience, which included UI President Sally Mason and Iowa Governor Chet Culver.


The first ACT exam was given in 1959 to about 75,000 high school students in 16 states. In 2009, nearly 1.5 million high school seniors across the nation and around the world took the college entrance exam.


In 1960, ACT had six employees. Today, ACT employs 1,250 fulltime staff. Most work on the 300-acre campus in northeast Iowa City.


In 1959, ACT’s total revenue was $129,000. In fiscal year 2009, ACT brought in more than $250 million.Cynthia Schmeiser, far left, stands with a number of the College alumni working at ACT.


In 1959, Lindquist envisioned a college entrance exam that would also help universities place students in appropriate courses once admitted. Today, ACT‘s reach is much broader.


“Today we offer a broad array of assessment-based solutions to individuals, educational institutions, government agencies, and organizations around the world,” Ferguson said, noting that his company changed its name from The American College Testing Program to ACT in 1996. “In contrast to our original name, we are global; we focus on the workforce and the full spectrum of education, not just colleges; and we do much more than testing.”


Cynthia Schmeiser (BA ‘72/MA ‘73/PhD ’83), president and COO of ACT’s educational division, has been an ACT employee for 36 years and is a former Feldt student.


“We help kids and adults prepare for transitions they go through in their lives,” she said. “We started with just one test and now we are in the human development business. We’re creating opportunities.”


Schmeiser and Ferguson, both of whom have taught courses in the College, are just two of several direct ties that still exist between ACT and The University of Iowa College of Education.


Ferguson pointed out that ACT and the College have teamed up to co-host conferences. ACT has employed hundreds of UI students as research assistants and interns, and UI graduates as fulltime staff members. ACT staff members serve on UI students’ dissertation committees and teach UI courses as adjunct faculty. A number of UI faculty, such as Professor Emeritus Robert Forsyth (PhD ’67), have served as consultants to ACT or participated in advisory and review panels.


Some from ACT move to the College as well. Professors Robert Brennan, Michael Kolen (BA ‘73/PhD ’79), and Catherine Welch (BBA ‘80/MA ‘84/PhD ’90) were ACT employees earlier in their careers. Kolen, Maxey, Brennan, and Welch


Jim Maxey (MS ‘59/PhD ’67) worked for ACT from 1969 to 2008. He has also served as an adjunct faculty member teaching statistics in the College of Education since 1967.


“There’s been a very rich exchange in the field of measurement and educational research between the University and ACT,” Maxey said. “It’s a wonderful relationship.”


Feldt, who stopped working on the ACT exams after a few years because his plate was too full with other scholarly pursuits, said he was proud to reflect on the company’s past 50 years.


“I don’t regret any of the gray hair I got from working on those first tests,” he joked.


Iowa State Historical Museum features ACT 50th anniversary display

The Iowa State Historical Museum in Des Moines now features a display marking the 50th anniversary of one of Iowa’s most prominent nonprofit organizations. ACT traces its history to a meeting of co-founders E.F. Lindquist, a University of Iowa professor and national expert in educational measurement, Ted McCarrel, UI director of admissions and registrar, and 16 state representatives who met in Iowa’s Old Capitol on the UI campus Aug. 21, 1959. That event founded the American College Testing Program, now known as ACT, Inc.

The display, which opens today, Friday, Jan. 15, includes a timeline of major events in ACT history and artifacts from ACT’s past, including test documents and components from early test scoring machines. Visitors can also view an audio-video display with recordings from early leaders describing how the organization evolved.

The ACT history exhibit will be on display in the main lobby of the Iowa State Historical Museum during normal museum hours through April 19. For details, visit http://www.iowahistory.org/museum.


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