Use of the ACT Assessment with College-Bound Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students

This paper summarizes the initial findings of studies conducted by researchers at ACT Inc. and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf concerning the performance of deaf and hard-of-hearing students on the ACT Assessment. The paper describes the ACT Assessment, and presents normative information about performance of a national sample of deaf and hard-of-hearing test takers in addition to results of performance of students entering NTID. Issues related to the effect of hearing loss, age of onset, and high school education are also discussed. Results for the studies reported in this paper indicate that the ACT Assessment is valid when used with postsecondary level deaf and hard-of-hearing students seeking admission to two-and four-year colleges in the United States