To evaluate the effectiveness of the ACT Educators Institute program within the Nashville Public Schools

Nola Daley, Jill McVey, Dana Murano, and Meri Kock Introduction The ACT®test is an important indicator of students’ college readiness (Sanchez, 2024) and akey component of the postsecondary application process and of scholarship eligibility (Miranda& Sanchez, 2023). In the Nashville Public Schools (NPS), all students are required to take theACT test as part of Tennessee’s graduation requirements, and the district emphasizesintegrating ACT test preparation into its everyday classroom instruction. This focus has led to The ACT Educator Academy offers comprehensive training to educators from elementarythrough high school. Participants complete ACT Basics training and ACT Instructional Mastery(AIM) training and attend a regional ACT conference. They also participate in cohort meetingswith other members of the ACT Academy, receive additional resources, have opportunities to The present study examined the impact of the ACT Educator Academy program within the NPSdistrict. In addition, this study used ACT’s efficacy framework (Mattern, 2019) to examine theefficacy of the AIM and Basics training within the context of a comprehensive program designedto enhance teachers’ knowledge of and skill in preparing students for the ACT. As defined by Level 1: Reaction.Educators are engaged and perceive their experience as useful and Level 2: Learning.Educators acquire targeted knowledge and skills. Level 3: Behavior.Educators apply what they have learned to their daily practices. Level 4: Results.Participating in the ACT Educator Academy leads to the desiredoutcomes. To examine each of these levels, this study aims to answer four primary research questions: 1.How do educators respond to the ACT Basics, AIM training, and ACT EducatorAcademy program overall, and are they interested in further professional development 2.Do educators perceive an increase in their knowledge of the ACT test after participating 3.Do educators feel comfortable incorporating the knowledge and skills measured by the 4.Do educators feel comfortable sharing information about the ACT test with theircolleagues and contributing to student preparation for the ACT test? Method This research was reviewed and approved by the Human Resources Research OrganizationInstitutional Review Board review committee in July 2024 and by the NPS Research Review Pre-Program Survey We administered a survey in September 2024, before the educators started the program.However, given the small number of responses to this survey (N= 6), this report concentrates Focus Groups After the educators attended the Basics training in September, AIM trainings in October, and theSouthwest Regional ACT Conference in December 2024, they participated in virtual focusgroups in January 2025. When we held the focus groups, six participants who had consented toparticipate in research remained in the program. All six educators took part in one of two focusgroups. The purpose of these sessions was to assess the participants’ (a) reactions to the Post-Program Survey We surveyed participants at the conclusion of the 2025 school year to assess their (a)responses to the program, (b) knowledge and awareness of the ACT test, and (c) dailypractices. This survey included four open-ended questions, eight blocks of closed questionsrated on a 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree) Likert scale (Likert items), and some theOpen-Ended Questionssection, and the Likert items are presented in Figures 1–4. In early May 2025, we sent this survey to current program participants and received five completedresponses. Back in October 2024, we sent the same survey to individuals who participated in the EducatorAcademy program during the preceding 2 school years. Out of 39 educators involved from 2022to 2024, 21 provided informed consent to participate in the research study, with 16 ultimately In total, 21 educators across three cohorts (2022–2025) completed the post-program survey.Given the limited number of respondents per cohort, we present combined results for all threecohorts. Results In the following sections, we organize the results from both the focus groups and post-program Level 1: Participant Experiences, Reactions to Program, and Interest Focus Groups All participants provided positive feedback regarding the program overall—as well as specificallyfor the AIM training and ACT conference—and also reported having positive experiences withthe program. One participant described the program as the “highlight” of the year. Others described the program as being worth their time, tremendously useful, and a great program. Inaddition to highly rating the overall program, multiple participants mentioned that the AIMtrainings were useful. For example, one participant said that those who attended AIM trainings would bring back their notes and share the information with their fellow educators at school. Regarding additional professional development (PD), participants expressed a strong intere