Table of Contents
Based on research (Part I | Part II) by Richard G. Innes for the Bluegrass Institute.
Q: What changed?
Beginning in spring 2026, Kentucky replaced the ACT with the SAT as the state-funded, state-required college admissions exam for 11th graders. The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) awarded a four-year contract to the College Board after a competitive bid process. The change ends an 18-year run in which every Kentucky junior took the ACT, starting with the 2007-08 school year.
Q: Why did KDE make the switch?
KDE has pointed to cost savings — the new contract is valued at roughly $30 per student and is projected to save the state up to $350,000 annually — along with the SAT's shorter, digital, adaptive format and free Khan Academy practice resources. ACT, Inc. challenged the contract award, but a state review found the protest lacked merit and allowed the switch to proceed.
Q: What are some central concerns about the switch?
Innes' research argues the change was managed poorly and threatens Kentucky's ability to track student performance accurately over time. He raises three main issues: (1) the process lacked transparency, including a lack of statutorily-required stakeholder consultation; (2) the ACT and SAT are different enough that switching breaks the Kentucky assessment program’s only long-term trend line in student achievement; and (3) the SAT does not appear to satisfy Kentucky's statutory testing requirements.
Q: Was the decision made transparently?
According to Innes' analysis, no. The procurement process for a college entrance examination began in early 2025, apparently without public discussion before the state board or any clear notice to stakeholders. A contract with the College Board was signed by June 13, 2025. However, the Kentucky Board of Education wasn't informed until two weeks later — apparently by emails, not in a meeting open to the public — and district assessment coordinators didn’t learn of the change three days after that. A statewide public advisory wasn't issued by KDE until September 2025, more than three months after the contract was already signed. The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education apparently learned of the change only after the fact and apparently was caught off guard by the change, which among other things could impact the KEES state scholarship program.
Q: Did local school districts have input or advance warning?
Apparently not. District leaders reportedly learned about the change indirectly, through the email sent to assessment coordinators rather than by a direct announcement to superintendents. Superintendents indicated they were given little warning and faced a compressed timeline to prepare students and staff for a notably different test after years of investment in ACT-specific practice materials and training.
Q: Did the Kentucky Board of Education formally approve this change?
Innes was unable to locate any public record of a board vote authorizing the switch. State law places the Kentucky Board of Education, not the KDE, in charge of the statewide assessment system. KRS 158.6453 requires the board to consult several advisory bodies — the Office of Education Accountability, the School Curriculum, Assessment, and Accountability Council, the Education Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommittee, and KDE's technical advisory committee — in developing the college entrance exam program. Innes' analysis found no clear evidence that this consultation occurred before KDE signed the contract.
Q: Does the SAT meet Kentucky's legal testing requirements?
State law (KRS 158.6453) requires the statewide college admissions exam to separately assess English, reading, mathematics, and science. The SAT tests reading, writing, and math, but it does not report a standalone English score (covering spelling, punctuation and grammar) and has no dedicated science section. Publishers of the SAT claim a science-related score will be derived from questions embedded in the SAT’s reading, writing, and math sections. Innes argues this raises real questions about whether the SAT meets the requirements of statute. In addition, embedding science-focused questions into the areas the SAT does assess may skew those sections toward science content, disadvantaging students who are stronger in humanities or civics.
Q: Can Kentucky just convert old ACT scores into SAT-equivalent scores to preserve its trend line?
No — and this is a key finding in Innes' research. Even the testing organizations that create the ACT and the SAT caution against it. The official ACT/SAT Concordance document states that the two tests measure similar but not identical skills, and the Concordance states its tables are meant only for comparing individual student scores at roughly the same point in time — not for converting long-term aggregate trends. On top of that, the most recent issue of the ACT/SAT Concordance dates back to 2018, before the newest redesign of the SAT. Clearly, nearly two decades of Kentucky ACT data cannot be reliably translated into SAT terms with the existing Concordance, meaning the state's longest and most consistent testing trend line effectively ended.
Q: What has Kentucky's ACT trend line actually shown in recent years?
Kentucky's ACT composite scores for the 11th grade testing rose from the program's 2007-08 start through 2016-17 school year and then began a sustained decline across English, math, reading, and science. By 2024-25, the composite score had fallen to 18.1 (on the ACT’s 36-point scale) from a peak of 19.8 in 2016-17 — erasing the earlier decade’s gains. Innes also contrasts the most recent ACT trends with the more favorable trends shown by the state's own Kentucky Summative Assessment (KSA) between 2021-22 and 2024-25. The two tests present conflicting pictures of how Kentucky students are actually performing.
Q: Why does Innes think the ACT decline matters for how the switch was communicated?
His research found that when the state released its November 2025 assessment results, the official communications emphasized KSA outcomes. There was no mention of any ACT results although the ACT was still a legally required part of the assessment system in 2025. The ACT data were posted in the somewhat challenging to access Kentucky School Report Card site but weren't highlighted there, either. Innes reports that ACT results were also left out of presentations to the state board in December 2025 and January 2026. When ACT data were finally presented to the board in February 2026, the presentation was incomplete, only covering the 201 to 2025 period. That omitted the earlier years that would have made the actual rise and fall of the scores apparent. Innes argues this pattern misleads about the seriousness of the state’s ACT decay after 2017.
Q: Is the new digital SAT the same test many parents remember?
No. Innes' research reveals it is a substantially redesigned assessment: shorter, digital, and adaptive, meaning students receive different questions depending on how they perform on earlier ones. Reading passages are shortened dramatically — from roughly 500-750 words down to as few as 25-150 words — which, per sources Innes cites, eliminates longer historical and foundational-document passages found in older SAT editions. With fewer total questions, each answer carries more weight, and score reports provide less detailed diagnostic breakdown than before. The few students who will still take a paper version (typically those with disabilities) may also face an assessment that isn't truly equivalent to the digital, adaptive format most students will take.
Q: Has there been any legislative action regarding the ACT to SAT switch?
Most definitely. Included in the 2026 legislative package is Senate Bill 197. Even after the governor line item vetoed some of the language regarding the college entrance exam requirement, the bill stipulates that:
The Kentucky Department of Education shall initiate a new competitive procurement process and shall award a contract only to a vendor or vendors whose assessment product satisfies all applicable state and federal statutory requirements for accountability and assessment purposes to be in place for the 2026 2027 school year.
Clearly, legislators are aware of the many issues with the SAT contract and want the job redone, correctly and in accordance with all statutory requirements.
Q: What other things is Innes recommending policymakers do?
His research calls for action from both the Kentucky Board of Education and the General Assembly, including:
- A formal state board review of whether the switch complied with KRS 158.6453 and whether required advisory bodies were actually consulted
- A public determination of whether the SAT meets the statute's English, reading, math, and science testing requirements
- Full, consistent and unbiased public reporting of all required assessment results, including complete (not truncated) trend lines
- Legislative investigation into the procurement process and timeline
- Considering creation of an independent assessment oversight body separate from the agencies (KDE and KBE) responsible for running education programs, to reduce conflicts of interest.
Q: Does this affect current high schoolers?
The class of 2027 became the first required to take the SAT as part of the state's spring assessment cycle, with testing delivered through the College Board's SAT School Day program during a six-week window beginning in March 2026. If the rebid contract is awarded to the ACT, or possibly another suitable vendor, the class of 2028 and later could again take the ACT.
Q: Where can I read the full research?
Richard Innes' full analysis is published by the Bluegrass Institute in a two-part series, Evaluating Kentucky's Assessment Results, along with a related commentary piece on the legal questions raised by the switch. All are available at bluegrassinstitute.org.
This FAQ summarizes research (Part I | Part II) and commentary by Richard G. Innes for the Bluegrass Institute. It is intended for general informational and advocacy use and does not constitute legal advice.
