Testing Services

Please note: all tests will proceed as scheduled unless marked as "cancelled"

Requirements to Enter the Building for Testing

For National test administrations all students testing at Glenbrook South (referred to as the testing center below), regardless of home school, must meet and abide by the following criteria: 

The ACT measures students' mastery of the Illinois Learning Standards in English,  Mathematics, Reading, Science, and Writing. All juniors across the state of Illinois are required to take the ISBE-provided ACT with Writing as a requirement for graduation. Colleges and universities accept ACT scores for admission purposes. You should be able to access your score on the ACT website approximately 2-8 weeks after the test administration.

Please note: If your junior student misses their ACT test date, they will be required to take this assessment on the make-up date. If the makeup is also missed, they will be required to take the State Test during their senior year.
 

Buses will run their morning routes at their regular times. You must hold a valid bus pass to ride the bus. Buses will depart GBS at the following times on April 7 and April 8: 

• Main Bus Run TBD.
• Activity Bus Run at TBD.

The cafeteria will be open for breakfast and grab-and-go lunches until 2 p.m.

• Students must arrive on time. Testing begins promptly at 8:00 a.m. Students should arrive at GBS by 7:45 a.m. 
• Students MUST use their district-issued device. Chromebooks must be operable and fully charged. 
• Students must bring a current photo identification card to be admitted to the test site  (school IDs and driver’s licenses are accepted).
• Students will need a writing utensil. Scratch paper will be provided.
• Students should bring their ACT-approved calculator. The calculators that students use in their math classes will NOT be permitted. Please click this link to see the list of approved calculators. 
•  Encourage your child to give their best effort and be prepared by eating a good breakfast and getting enough sleep the night before.  Students are welcome to bring a snack/drink they can access during the break. Students testing longer than 5 hours in one day will receive a 30-minute meal break; students can either bring their own lunch or purchase a grab-and-go meal to eat in the testing rooms.
•  Students will see their legal name on all testing documents for State Testing.
   

1. Go to www.actstudent.org to create an account and register for the test.
2. APPLY BEFORE THE ACT STANDARD REGISTRATION WINDOW ENDS.  We cannot guarantee that requests made during the late registration window will be processed before the ACT deadline.
3. Pay attention to the following question, “Do you need accommodations to access this test?”  Make sure to check “Yes”.
4. Determine if you are applying for:
   1. National Extended Time - 504 Plan or IEP indicates up to time-and-a-half in school, completes all tests in one session.
   2. Special Testing - 504 Plan or IEP indicates more than time-and-a-half on tests, 1:1 testing with extended time, or requires testing over multiple days.
5. Make sure to list student email and parent email on application.  Parents - it’s a good idea to opt into receiving the same emails your son/daughter will receive.
6. Once you have completed the process, you will receive an email that you need to forward to Glenbrook South.  Please forward to Laura Ward, lward@glenbrook225.org.
7. You must sign the ACT Consent Form and email to Mrs. Ward, lward@glenbrook225.org. Verbal consent is also accepted, 847-486-4540.
8. To guarantee submission for an upcoming test date, Accommodation Requests must be submitted to Laura Ward no later than the initial registration deadline. Requests received after the registration deadline, but before the late registration deadline are not guaranteed to be submitted for consideration for an upcoming exam.

Please Note: Glenbrook South does not host any testing during the month of July. If you are registering for testing accommodations for the July National Test after June 9th, you will need to apply for accommodations directly through ACT. If a student qualifies for Special Testing, you must work directly with ACT to find a testing location for the July test.

For the state-required ACT administered in April, accommodations will be applied for all juniors who have current testing accommodations listed on their school plan. ACT and ISBE dictate the deadline to apply for all accommodations (historically in February). Any newly added accommodations or changes to accommodations after the ACT deadline will not be applied for in regards to the state test. Applications for a National ACT test will adhere to the deadlines dictated by ACT, and will follow the procedure listed above. 

The Testing Coordinator applies for testing accommodations through the College Board for students who qualify for testing accommodations in their current IEP or 504 Plan in advance of assessment testing provided that a signed Consent Form is on file.  Once a student has been approved, testing accommodations apply on all College Board exams including all standardized AP, SAT and SAT Subject Tests .

Please note: to guarantee submission for an upcoming test date, Accommodation Requests must be submitted to Laura Ward no later than the initial registration deadline. Requests received after the registration deadline, but before the late registration deadline are not guaranteed to be submitted for consideration for an upcoming exam.

The College Board deadline to apply for testing accommodations for all AP exams is mid-January. The testing coordinator will continue to apply for new/changed accommodations until March 15th (please note: this does not guarantee a decision from College Board prior to the AP Exam season). Any changes to accommodations or new accommodations implemented after the March 15th cutoff will not be applied for until after the testing season has concluded (end of May). 

Please contact your school counselor or email Laura Ward, lward@glenbrook225.org if you would like to check the status of your student’s testing accommodations.
 

ACT School Day

EL supports are available for the ACT School Day assessments. EL supports are not currently available for the PSAT/NMSQT, AP, CLEP, ACCUPLACER, or the weekend administrations of the SAT. The available supports include the use of an approved word-to-word bilingual dictionary, translated test directions, and time and one-half (+50%). Students will receive college and scholarship reportable scores when any of the supports are used.

Accommodations for State testing will be applied for juniors. 

• Students who meet the following criteria at the time of testing are eligible to use EL supports:
  • Enrolled in an elementary or secondary school in the U.S. or U.S. territories
  • An English learner as defined by their state or by federal policy
  • Use the same supports in class or for other assessments
• Use of an approved word-to-word bilingual dictionary:
• Use of translated test directions:
  • Translated test directions are provided in PDF format. Schools must print the directions for students; no printed test directions will be sent to schools.
  • Translated directions are available in numerous languages. See the links below for specific languages offered.
• Use of time and one-half (+50%):
  • This EL support must be entered in the ACT TAA Portal by the EL deadline. Documentation must be uploaded by the school for ACT to review. For schools testing as a part of a state contract, check with your state for additional updates on the use of supports/accommodations for EL students.
  • Students will receive time and one-half (+50%) on each section of the ACT School Day. Students must sit for the entire time allotted and cannot go ahead in the test, even if they are the only one testing.
  • Schools can request EL time and one-half (+50%) for English learners starting in January for spring testing.
     

ACT

The following Documentation is needed to submit a request for English Learner Supports for ACT tests. Please note that EL supports are subject to the same deadlines as Special testing accommodation requests for ACT. 

• ACT Consent Form 
• Documentation OF English Learner status at school. 

The following supports are available to English Learners 

• Small Group Testing
• Approved word to word bilingual dictionary
• Timing Codes (pick 1)
  • Standard Time
  • One and One-Half Time

Language Offered:

• Arabic
• Cantonese(spoken)/Chinese Simplified(written)
• Cantonese(spoken)/Chinese Traditional(written)
• French
• German
• Haitian Creole
• Hmong Daw (White)
• Japanese
• Korean
• Mandarin(spoken)/Chinese Simplified(written)
• Mandarin(spoken)/Chinese Traditional(written)
• Navajo
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Samoan
• Somali
• Spanish
• Tagalog
• Tongan
• Vietnamese
• Other (subject to availability from ACT)

English Learner Accommodations Request Form for ACT

Please note that ACT and College Board have strict guidelines for documentation that is required to be included with a request for accommodations. They review each request on a case-by-case basis and there is no guarantee that they will approve your student. The links below provide extensive details regarding the documentation needed for specific diagnoses.

Per College Board and ACT, without providing all of the documentation described, it is likely that your child will not be approved for the requested accommodation(s). Note that since your child does not currently have a school-based plan and/or is not receiving the requested accommodation(s) in the school setting, an explanation must be provided from an outside professional, tutor and/or parent for why the accommodations are necessary at this time. The burden for providing documentation rests with the family. 
 

• ACT
• College Board

For ACT accommodation requests please email lward@glenbrook225.org with your supporting documentation and the accommodations you are requesting. 

For College Board accommodations requests please follow the directions listed on the College Board website

If your student has been approved for accommodated testing, you will have already received further detailed information from the Testing Coordinator, Mrs. Laura Ward. For questions, you can reach out to Laura directly.