The ACT Exam Gets an Hour Shorter, Makes Science Section Optional

High school students taking the ACT test this spring may have a less trying time of it than their predecessors. The nonprofit company administering the college admissions exam, called ACT, announced July 15 that it will cut the exam’s runtime by as much as a third and make the science portion optional. “With this flexibility, students can focus on their strengths and showcase their abilities in the best possible way,” the company’s chief executive, Janet Godwin, wrote in a blog post. English, reading, and math will remain core components of the new ACT, which now lasts just two hours, compared with the roughly three hours for the previous version. That will mean shorter passages in the reading and English sections and a total of 44 fewer questions across all sections....