Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official PDF posted by the Arkansas General Assembly, fetched 2026-07-23. Page and line markers are part of the official record; nothing is edited or removed. The official bill page.
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1 State of Arkansas As Engrossed: S2/4/25 S2/25/25 S2/25/25 S3/4/25
2 95th General Assembly A Bill
3 Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 183
4
5 By: Senator J. Dotson
6 By: Representative Brooks
7
8 For An Act To Be Entitled
9 AN ACT CONCERNING STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENTS; TO AMEND
10 THE UNIVERSAL ACT ASSESSMENT PROGRAM ACT; TO AMEND
11 THE TYPES OF ASSESSMENTS PUBLIC SCHOOLS MAY PROVIDE
12 TO STUDENTS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
13
14
15 Subtitle
16 TO AMEND THE UNIVERSAL ACT ASSESSMENT
17 PROGRAM ACT; AND TO AMEND THE TYPES OF
18 ASSESSMENTS PUBLIC SCHOOLS MAY PROVIDE
19 TO STUDENTS.
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21 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
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23 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 6, Chapter 18, Subchapter 16 is amended
24 to read as follows:
25 Subchapter 16 -- Universal ACT Assessment Program Act
26
27 6-18-1601. Title.
28 This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Universal ACT
29 Assessment Program Act".
30
31 6-18-1602. Definitions Definition.
32 As used in this subchapter:
33 (1)(A) "ACT Assessment" "Assessment" means a test of student
34 educational development that measures student readiness for future learning
35 and that may be used by institutions of higher education as part of their
36 admissions, placement, and scholarship processes and by high schools to
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1 improve college and workforce readiness; and
2 (2) "Smart Core" means:
3 (A) The college and career readiness curriculum by that
4 name under the rules of the State Board of Education; or
5 (B) A college and career readiness curriculum that is:
6 (i) Established by rules of the state board in
7 coordination with the Division of Higher Education; and
8 (ii) Substituted for the curriculum named "Smart
9 Core".
10 (B) "Assessment" includes without limitation:
11 (i) The ACT test;
12 (ii) The SAT;
13 (iii) The CLT;
14 (iv) The PreACT;
15 (v) The PSAT 8/9;
16 (vi) The PSAT 10;
17 (vii) The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship
18 Qualifying Test;
19 (viii) The CLT 10; or
20 (ix) The PreACT 8/9; and
21 (2) "CLT" means the Classic Learning Test administered by Class
22 Learning Initiatives, LLC.
23
24 6-18-1603. Creation.
25 There is created in the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education
26 the Universal ACT Assessment Program to be developed, implemented, and
27 administered by the division as provided in this subchapter.
28
29 6-18-1604. Purpose.
30 The purpose of the Universal ACT Assessment Program is to:
31 (1) Improve the college readiness of all students in grade
32 eleven (11);
33 (2) Prevent or minimize the continued remediation of nearly
34 fifty percent (50%) of all students entering Arkansas institutions of higher
35 education in one (1) or more subjects because they do not meet the college
36 recommended readiness score of nineteen (19) or higher on the ACT Assessment
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1 an assessment;
2 (3) Advance the number of students, including students of low
3 income, English-language learners, and minority students, taking the ACT
4 Assessment an assessment while in grade eleven (11) to increase the number of
5 first-generation college students;
6 (4) Increase the college participation rates among all racial
7 and ethnic groups;
8 (5) Improve preparation for college and the workforce;
9 (6) Improve the course selection patterns of high school
10 students;
11 (7) Increase the early identification of college-ready students;
12 and
13 (8) Support students participating in the Smart Core by
14 providing a baseline for their college and workforce readiness and an
15 opportunity to benefit from earlier remediation or course selection review;
16 and
17 (9) Provide a link between what students have learned, what they
18 need to learn, and what is necessary in order to be college or workforce
19 ready, or both, by providing expectations and measuring their progress.
20
21 6-18-1605. Smart Core and ACT Assessment.
22 (a) The General Assembly finds that students who take the recommended
23 Smart Core courses or students who take additional courses after completing
24 the Smart Core continue to perform better on the ACT Assessment than students
25 who take less than the recommended core.
26 (b) The recommended core courses according to ACT Assessment officials
27 include:
28 (1) Four (4) years or more of English;
29 (2) Three (3) years or more of mathematics;
30 (3) Three (3) years or more of social studies; and
31 (4) Three (3) years or more of natural sciences.
32
33 6-18-1606. Implementation.
34 (a) Beginning with the 2017-2018 2025-2026 school year, the Universal
35 ACT Assessment Program may provide each student in grades nine (9), ten (10),
36 eleven (11), or twelve (12) with the opportunity to take the ACT Assessment
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1 an assessment while in grades nine (9), ten (10), eleven (11), or twelve (12)
2 without any charge by using school district funding provided to public school
3 districts and open-enrollment public charter schools, including without
4 limitation National School Lunch Act funds, 42 U.S.C. � 1751 et seq., to pay
5 for the exams assessments as approved by the Division of Elementary and
6 Secondary Education.
7 (b) A Each public school district and open-enrollment public charter
8 school shall allow a student to choose to take the ACT Assessment the
9 following assessments under subsection (a) of this section in grade ten (10)
10 or grade eleven (11):
11 (1) One (1) of the following in grades nine (9) or ten (10):
12 (A) The PreACT;
13 (B) The PSAT 8/9;
14 (C) The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship
15 Qualifying Test;
16 (D) The PreACT 8/9;
17 (E) The PSAT 10; or
18 (F) The CLT 10; and
19 (2) One (1) of the following in grade eleven (11):
20 (A) The ACT;
21 (B) The SAT; or
22 (C) The CLT.
23 (c) A public school district or an open-enrollment public charter
24 school shall offer and enable a student, upon the student's request, to take
25 the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery at the public school district
26 or open-enrollment public charter school."
27
28 6-18-1607. Rules.
29 The Division of Higher Education and the Division of Elementary and
30 Secondary Education shall develop rules for the administration of this
31 subchapter.
32
33 6-18-1608. Reporting.
34 The Division of Higher Education and the Division of Elementary and
35 Secondary Education shall submit a combined annual report to the Legislative
36 Council by December 1 of each year that establishes:
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1 (1) Establishes compliance with this subchapter, provides;
2 (2) Provides data on the number of participants in the Universal
3 ACT Assessment Program,; and outlines
4 (3) Outlines the impact of this program on the college readiness
5 of high school seniors and the remediation rates at institutions of higher
6 education.
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5 03-04-2025 14:06:59 TNL050Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.