ACT Score Replacement Request
for Highly Performing Students
Spring 2023
District Test Coordinators,

The ACT is Arizona's statewide high school achievement assessment to be administered to all public school students in the 11th grade cohort, except those identified as needing an alternate assessment. Students will participate in ACT English, Math, Reading, Science, and Writing test sections. Students' Math and English Language Arts (ELA) scores are used for Arizona accountability purposes. The ELA score is an average of the Writing, English, and Reading scale scores, and the ACT Writing section is required for all students. 

For Spring 2023, the Arizona State Board of Education has approved a process whereby 
an ACT score replacement request may be granted for highly performing students who demonstrate competency prior to the statewide test window. When a Cohort 2024 student has an ACT test score obtained on a national test date within their Junior/11th grade school year that meets or exceeds Arizona's ACT Cut Scores for the content areas of English Language Arts (ELA) and Math, the national test date score report may be used to replace the statewide ACT assessment.

The ACT score replacement request is intended for students with high scores who do not want to test again and should be used sparingly. The score replacement allows the student to use the score obtained on a national test date rather than Arizona's statewide assessment date for accountability purposes, subject to ADE's review and approval, using the criteria outlined below.
  • To be comparable, the replacement test score must be obtained within the Junior / 11th grade / Cohort 2024 school year, no earlier than July 1, 2022.
  • The Writing essay must be included in the score as it is required for the high school statewide assessment.
  • The student must score in the highly proficient range as determined by Arizona's ACT Cut Scores, which were approved by the Arizona State Board of Education in July 2022. The student must score 25 or higher in ELA and Math.
The deadline to submit ACT score replacement requests to ADE is March 24, 2023. Requests must be submitted using the secure online form, and a copy of the student's ACT score report (either the student or the high school copy) must be uploaded with the request. A signed parent consent form must also be uploaded with the request. ADE's Assessment team will confirm the score report with ACT and will respond to the Achievement District Test Coordinator regarding the final decision.

If you have any questions, please contact us at Testing@azed.gov.
ACT Score Replacement Request Form
Parent Consent Form
Audra Ahumada
Deputy Associate Superintendent of Assessment
Arizona Department of Education
Dr. Joseph Guzman
Associate Superintendent of Assessment, Standards, Accountability, and Research
Arizona Department of Education