Thanks for the link to a graph, I suppose that is a pretty big drop relative to previous years. I wonder what the trend will be in the future.
I hope they don't make the ACT easier as compensation. I feel that the ACT is almost "too easy" already. For example, I would not consider myself academically talented (graduated mid tier public university with 3.5 GPA in electrical engineering), but I was able to get a 34 ACT after doing 6 practice tests. Also keep in mind that you can retake the ACT or SAT as many times as you desire. Thus, I feel like it looses its predictive qualities due to being so easy to score highly (if you prepare for it).
First of all, is a change from 19.8 to 19.5 really that significant?
Perhaps a noteworthy aspect to consider is the ratio of school-required test takers that might not be prepared vs prepared takers.
This is because the ACT is a test where the score varies greatly depending on preparation. (For example, I scored 27 on my first practice test, and after 5 more practice tests increased that to 34.)
So perhaps one possible explanation is that there were more school required unprepared test takers and fewer prepared test takers this year.
I hope they don't make the ACT easier as compensation. I feel that the ACT is almost "too easy" already. For example, I would not consider myself academically talented (graduated mid tier public university with 3.5 GPA in electrical engineering), but I was able to get a 34 ACT after doing 6 practice tests. Also keep in mind that you can retake the ACT or SAT as many times as you desire. Thus, I feel like it looses its predictive qualities due to being so easy to score highly (if you prepare for it).