Kentucky has selected ACT, Inc. as its vendor for end-of-course (EOC) examinations for the state’s public high school students.

The contract period is from May 9, 2011, to June 30, 2012, and is for a total of $5,486,700.

Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), enacted in the 2009 Kentucky General Assembly, requires a new public school assessment program beginning in the 2011-12 school year. The legislation allowed, with approval by the Kentucky Board of Education, an EOC assessment program at the high school level.

ACT, Inc. will provide assessments for English II, Algebra II, Biology and U.S. History through its QualityCore program. The program is syllabus-driven and will include curriculum and instruction support materials. QualityCore was developed based on research in high-performing classrooms that focus on the essential standards for college and career readiness.

The Kentucky Department of Education will provide information on how educators may access the instructional support materials for the four EOC courses in the coming weeks.

The EOC assessments will be administered throughout the year as students earn credits in each course. In addition to the EOC assessments, Kentucky students in grades 10 and 11 also will complete writing assessments provided by NCS Pearson.

The EOC assessments are part of the Next-Generation Learners component of the proposed accountability model for the state’s public schools and districts. The Next-Generation Learners component also includes subject-area tests in elementary and middle schools.

Kentucky also contracts with ACT, Inc. to provide the Educational Planning and Assessment System (EPAS), which includes the ACT for 11th graders, EXPLORE for 8th-graders and PLAN for 10th-graders.