ORLANDO, Fla. — Saturday marks a big day, albeit a stressful one, for students across the country. Feb. 10 is the first nationwide ACT test date of the year, and it comes as previous scores marked a 30-year low for students.

Jimmy Say, an instructional support staff member with Orange County Public Schools, works to ensure his students don’t get grouped into the large number of students nationwide who have fallen behind in their ACT scores.

His specialty is in reading and writing prep, and he works to help students move past test anxiety.

“Seeing that immediate result, it’s really gratifying,” Say said.

He said students come in during their off periods, even their lunch break, in order to get tutoring.

It’s an initiative that he says took off after the COVID-19 pandemic kept most students at home for a significant period.

“We hired a lot of intervention teachers to fill that void,” he said.

In 2023, around 40% of high school seniors nationwide did not meet any of the college readiness benchmarks in English, math, reading, or science, and 70% fell below the math benchmarks.

The class of 2023 was in their first year of high school when the pandemic began.

While many students are studying for the college entrance exam, others are studying for the ACT/NCR (Non-College Reporting), which is a test required for graduation.

Regardless of which test students have their eyes on, tutoring can be expensive. Parents can expect to pay from $30 to $150/hour for tutoring. But through Orange County Public Schools’ in-school program, the help from teachers like Say comes at no cost.

To view upcoming national ACT test dates and registration deadlines, click here. 

The ACT/NCR testing dates for Orange County students are on March 26 and April 16.