education act essay

The Every Student Succeeds Act: An ESSA Overview

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The new Every Student Succeeds Act, signed into law Dec. 10, 2015, rolls back much of the federal government’s big footprint in education policy, on everything from testing and teacher quality to low-performing schools. And it gives new leeway to states in calling the shots.

That’s a big change from the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which ESSA replaced and updated.

The Every Student Succeeds Act takes full effect in the 2017-18 school year . Below are key elements of the law.

Accountability Plans

States still have to submit accountability plans to the Education Department. These new ESSA plans will start in the 2017-18 school year. The names of peer-reviewers have to be made public. A state can get a hearing if the department turns down its plan.

Accountability Goals

States can pick their own goals, both a big long-term goal, and smaller, interim goals. These goals must address: proficiency on tests, English-language proficiency, and graduation rates.

Goals have to set an expectation that all groups that are furthest behind close gaps in achievement and graduation rates.

Accountability Systems

Elementary and Middle Schools

States need to incorporate at least four indicators into their accountability systems. The menu includes three academic indicators: proficiency on state tests, English-language proficiency, plus some other academic factor that can be broken out by subgroup, which could be growth on state tests.

States are required to add at least one additional indicator of a very different kind. Possibilities include: student engagement, educator engagement, access to and completion of advanced coursework, postsecondary readiness, school climate/safety, or whatever else the state thinks makes sense.

States have to figure in participation rates on state tests. (Schools with less than 95 percent participation are supposed to have that included, somehow.) But participation rate is a stand-alone factor, not a separate indicator on its own.

High Schools

High schools will be judged by basically the same set of indicators, except that graduation rates will have to be part of the mix. They could take the place of a second academic indicator.

Weighing the Indicators

It will be up to the states to decide how much the individual indicators will count, although the academic factors (tests, graduation rates, etc.) will have to count “much” more as a group than the indicators that get at students’ opportunity to learn and post-secondary readiness.

Low-Performing Schools

States have to identify and intervene in the bottom 5 percent of performers. These schools have to be identified at least once every three years.

States have to identify and intervene in high schools where the graduation rate is 67 percent or less.

States, with districts, have to identify schools where subgroups of students are struggling.

School Interventions

For the bottom 5 percent of schools and for high schools with high dropout rates:

• Districts will work with teachers and school staff to come up with an evidence-based plan.
• States will monitor the turnaround effort.
• If schools continue to founder, after no more than four years the state will be required to step in with its own plan. A state could take over the school if it wanted, or fire the principal, or turn the school into a charter.
• Districts could also allow for public school choice out of seriously low-performing schools, but they have to give priority to the students who need it most.

For schools where subgroup students are struggling:

• Schools have to come up with an evidence-based plan to help the particular group of students who are falling behind, such as minority students or those in special education.
• Districts must monitor these plans. If the school continues to fall short, the district would step in, though there’s no specified timeline.
• Importantly, there’s also a provision calling for states and districts to come up with a “comprehensive improvement plan” in schools where subgroups are chronically underperforming, despite local interventions.
• The School Improvement Grant program is consolidated into the bigger Title I pot, which helps districts educate students in poverty. States could set aside up to 7 percent of all their Title I funds for school improvement, up from 4 percent in current law.

States still have to test students in reading and math in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school, and break out the data for whole schools, plus different “subgroups” of students (English-learners, students in special education, racial minorities, those in poverty). ESSA maintains the federal requirement for 95 percent participation in tests.

States are prohibited from combining different sets of students into so-called “super subgroups” for accountability purposes.

Up to seven states can apply to try out local tests for a limited time, with the permission of the U.S. Department of Education.

Districts can use local, nationally recognized tests at the high school level, with state permission, such as the SAT or ACT.

States can create their own testing opt-out laws, and states decide what should happen in schools that miss targets.

States are required to adopt “challenging” academic standards. That could be the Common Core State Standards, but doesn’t have to be.

The U.S. Secretary of Education is expressly prohibited from forcing or even encouraging states to pick a particular set of standards (including the common core).

Transition From the No Child Left Behind Act

Waivers from the NCLB law are null and void on Aug. 1, 2016, but states still have to continue supporting their lowest-performing schools (“priority schools”) and schools with big achievement gaps (“focus schools”) until their new ESSA plans kicked in.

In general, ESSA applies to any competitive federal grants given out after Oct. 1, 2016, so most grants are still under the NCLB version of the law for the rest of this school year.

English-Language Learners

Accountability for English-language learners moves from Title III (the English-language acquisition section of the ESEA) to Title I (where everyone else’s accountability is). The idea is to make accountability for those students a priority.

States can include English-language learners’ test scores after they have been in the country a year, as under current law.

During that first year, those students’ test scores won’t count toward a school’s rating, but ELLs will need to take both of the assessments, and have the results publicly reported. In the second year, the state has to incorporate ELLs’ results for both reading and math, using some measure of growth. And in their third year in the country, the proficiency scores of newly arrived ELLs will be treated just like any other students’.

Students in Special Education

Only 1 percent of students overall can be given alternative tests. (That’s about 10 percent of students in special education.)

Block Grant

A new $1.6 billion block grant consolidates dozens of programs, including some involving physical education, Advanced Placement, school counseling, and education technology.

Districts that get more than $30,000 have to spend at least 20 percent of their funding on at least one activity that helps students become well-rounded, and another 20 percent on at least one activity that helps students be safe and healthy. And part of the money can be spent on technology.

Some programs live on as separate line items, including the 21st Century Community Learning Centers.

New or Existing

The ESSA enshrines the Preschool Development Grant program in law and focuses it on program coordination, quality, and broadening access to early-childhood education. But the program is housed at the Department of Health and Human Services, jointly administered by the Education Department.

A new, evidence-based research and innovation program is created, described by some as similar to the Obama administration’s Investing in Innovation program.

Other highlights include a standalone program for parent engagement, along with reservations for arts education, gifted and talented education, and Ready to Learn television.

Weighted Student Funding

A pilot program will let 50 districts try out a weighted student-funding formula, combining state, local, and federal funds to better serve low-income students and those with special needs.

States will no longer have to do teacher evaluation through student outcomes, as they did under NCLB waivers.

The NCLB law’s “highly qualified teacher” requirement is officially a thing of the past.

The former Teacher Incentive Fund—now called the Teacher and School Leader Innovation Program—will provide grants to districts that want to try out performance pay and other teacher-quality improvement measures. ESSA also includes resources for helping train teachers on literacy and STEM.

Funding and Other Issues

The current Title I funding formula remains intact, but there are some changes to the Title II formula (which funds teacher quality) that will be a boon to rural states.

Maintenance of effort will remain in place, requiring states to keep up their own spending at a particular level in order to tap federal funds.

ESSA Resources U.S. Department of Education’s ESSA Page Special Report: Inside the New Federal K-12 Law Video: Education Secretary John B. King Jr. Discusses ESSA No Child Left Behind: An Overview

How to Cite This Article Klein, A. (2016, March 31). The Every Student Succeeds Act: An ESSA Overview. Education Week. Retrieved Month Day, Year from https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/the-every-student-succeeds-act-an-ESSA-overview/2016/03

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By submitting my email address. i certify that i am 13 years of age or older, agree to recieve marketing email messages from the princeton review, and agree to terms of use., sample act essay prompt (and how to tackle it).

Are you taking the ACT with Writing? No need to stress! The ACT essay follows a predictable format, which means you can practice and prepare beforehand. Take a look at a sample ACT writing prompt and learn five key steps to penning a high-scoring essay.

Keep in mind: The ACT writing essay is optional. Currently, only 27 colleges and universities require the ACT with Writing. You can see the complete list  here . If there is any chance that you might apply to one of those schools, you should register for the ACT with Writing. Not sure where you will apply? You should strongly consider signing up for the essay and keep your options open.

ACT with Writing: Sample Prompt

This example writing prompt comes straight from our book ACT Prep :

Education and the Workplace

Many colleges and universities have cut their humanities departments, and high schools have started to shift their attention much more definitively toward STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and away from ELA (English, Language Arts). Representatives from both school boards and government organizations suggest that the move toward STEM is necessary in helping students to participate in a meaningful way in the American workplace. Given the urgency of this debate for the future of education and society as a whole, it is worth examining the potential consequences of this shift in how students are educated in the United States.

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the shift in American education.

Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate multiple perspectives on the issue of how schools should balance STEM and ELA subjects. In your essay, be sure to:

• analyze and evaluate the perspectives given
• state and develop your own perspective on the issue
• explain the relationship between your perspective and those given

Your perspective may be in full agreement with any of the others, in partial agreement, or wholly different. Whatever the case, support your ideas with logical reasoning and detailed, persuasive examples.

How to Write the ACT Essay

Your job is to write an essay in which you take some sort of position on the prompt, all while assessing the three perspectives provided in the boxes. Find a way to anchor your essay with a unique perspective of your own that can be defended and debated, and you are already in the upper echelon of scorers.

Step 1: Work the Prompt

What in the prompt requires you to weigh in? Why is this issue still the subject of debate and not a done deal?

Step 2: Work the Perspectives

Typically, the three perspectives will be split: one for , one against , and one in the middle . Your goal in Step 2 is to figure out where each perspective stands and then identify at least one shortcoming of each perspective. For the example above, ask yourself: 

• What does each perspective consider?
• What does each perspective overlook?

Read More: What's a Good ACT Score?

Step 3: Generate Your Own Perspective

Now it's time to come up with your own perspective! If you merely restate one of the three given perspectives, you won’t be able to get into the highest scoring ranges. You’ll draw from each of the perspectives, and you may side with one of them, but your perspective should have something unique about it.

Step 4: Put It All Together

Now that you have your ideas in order, here's a blueprint for how to organize the ACT essay. This blueprint works no matter what your prompt is.

Step 5: (If There's Time): Proofread

Spend one or two minutes on proofreading your essay if you have time. You’re looking for big, glaring errors. If you find one, erase it completely or cross it out neatly. Though neatness doesn’t necessarily affect your grade, it does make for a happy grader.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, how to write an act essay: step-by-step example.

ACT Strategies , ACT Writing

Sometimes writing—especially writing for standardized tests—can feel like something you "get" or "don't get." That's primarily because it's very difficult to explain and teach writing in a mechanical way, especially when you're up against time limits.

In this article, we've broken how to write the ACT essay into eight steps that work for every essay, every time. Then, we show you exactly how to do it with an actual ACT essay example.

Many students ask us how to write an ACT essay, and while the answer is simple enough to explain in eight steps (as we do below), it's not necessarily simple to do . As with any skill, the key to learning how to write an ACT essay is to study a good model (which we are going to cover in this article) and then practice, practice, practice.

Tackling ACT Writing, Step by Step

The ACT essay plan below has been modified from our ACT Essay Tips article to fit the new ACT Writing Test. The template includes three sections: planning, writing and revising. If you practice using this template to write ACT essays, you'll get much faster and (probably) more precise. Here's the sample prompt we'll be responding to:

Intelligent Machines

Many of the goods and services we depend on daily are now supplied by intelligent, automated machines rather than human beings. Robots build cars and other goods on assembly lines, where once there were human workers. Many of our phone conversations are now conducted not with people but with sophisticated technologies. We can now buy goods at a variety of stores without the help of a human cashier. Automation is generally seen as a sign of progress, but what is lost when we replace humans with machines? Given the accelerating variety and prevalence of intelligent machines, it is worth examining the implications and meaning of their presence in our lives.

Perspective One: What we lose with the replacement of people by machines is some part of our own humanity. Even our mundane daily encounters no longer require from us basic courtesy, respect, and tolerance for other people.

Perspective Two: Machines are good at low-skill, repetitive jobs, and at high-speed, extremely precise jobs. In both cases they work better than humans. This efficiency leads to a more prosperous and progressive world for everyone.

Perspective Three: Intelligent machines challenge our long-standing ideas about what humans are or can be. This is good because it pushes both humans and machines toward new, unimagined possibilities.

Write a unified, coherent essay about the increasing presence of intelligent machines.

Stage 1: Planning

Time: 8-10 minutes

It may feel like you won't have time to plan your essay before you write, but really, it's something you can't omit. Trust us. Organizing your thoughts as you write will cost you way more time than if you take the time to plan out your essay before you begin writing.

Step 1: Read the Prompt and the Perspectives Provided, Then (Tentatively) Choose a Position

Because addressing the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective is an integral part of the essay task, you need to make sure you understand what the prompt is saying and at least skim through the perspectives.

The good news is that each perspective includes both a general assertion about intelligent machines as well as an opinion that places the topic in a broader context, saving you some work in coming up with your own, independent perspective.

While it is possible to come up with a fourth point of view on the topic, I don't recommend it. The added time you'll have to spend coming up with your own point of view could be better spend developing your comparison of your perspective to at least one other perspective.

If your perspective is a "blending" of multiple perspectives, that's also fine, as long as you make sure you compare your blended perspective to each of the perspectives it combines; otherwise, you won't fulfill the "analyze the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective" part of the task. Bottom line: choose the perspective you think you can support the best.

Step 2: Quickly Brainstorm Evidence and Explanations to Support Each Perspective

Because the ACT essay involves discussing the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective, not just your perspective, you'll have to use multiple pieces of evidence in your essay.

During this step, if you find that you're able to find more convincing evidence to support a different perspective than the one you've chosen, you can always switch—after all, you're still planning. Also, you don't have to write in complete sentences, or phrase things as elegantly as you will in the actual essay, so don't worry about that.

Here are some potential places you can look to for evidence and examples:

Opening Paragraph of the Prompt

If you haven't already, read through the paragraph at the beginning of the essay prompt. You can appropriate some or all of the examples in it to use in your own essay. 

Personal Experience

You can tell any story (real or not) about you or someone else you know (or make up) that supports any one of your points.

Again, these can be real or made up. You could invent a research study that looked at recordings of phone calls and found >80% of people end up cursing while using automated phone menus (to support perspective one), make up statistics that show automated cashiers are able to process three times as many check-outs as human cashiers (to support perspective 2), or come up with any other kind of statistics that support one of the perspectives.

Specifics from Sources

Use knowledge of events from history or current events to support your points. If you're not certain of the details, it's all right—the essay graders won't deduct points for factually inaccurate information. For this essay, you could use the invention of the printing press (and its effects) as an example of how mechanization can lead to "unimagined possibilities."

Here's the evidence I came up with for my essay:

Evidence : Many of our phone conversations are conducted not with people, but with sophisticated technologies...that don't necessarily work at 100%

Explanation : People get so frustrated with the technology that when they press "0" to speak with a real human they are often rude and discourteous

Evidence : Robots build cars on assembly lines

Explanation : Lower cost, decreases risk of injury to human workers

Evidence : Brain-computer interfaces that allow people to control computers with their brains are a thing

Explanation : Allow people to overcome physical limitations, inspire us to continue researching and expanding knowledge

Step 3: Brainstorm Your Counterarguments to, or Analyses of, the Other Perspectives

There's no one right way to respond to the perspectives the ACT gives you. Some of it depends on what point of view you take. For instance, if I agreed with Perspective One, which takes a negative view of the effects of intelligent machines, I might want to discuss both of the other two perspectives (which both take positive views of intelligent machines) in one paragraph, and then disagree with them in the next paragraph as I present my support for Perspective One.

Since I'm arguing for Perspective Three (machines challenge our ideas about what humans are or can be, which pushes us and machines toward new possibilities), I'm going to argue against Perspective One and Perspective Two separately, because I have strong evidence for my analyses of each perspective.

Because the essay only requires you to analyze the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective, if I had lots of evidence to use in my comparison of my perspective and Perspective One, but nothing to say about Perspective Two, I could also decide not to discuss that perspective at all. In this case, I was able to think of solid arguments for and against both of the other perspectives, so I chose to analyze both of them and their relationship to my perspective below. (Again, these are not necessarily worded in their final form.)

Counterargument/analysis : The benefits outweigh the costs, because providing people with the option to submit prescriptions or ask about store hours through an automated menu frees up customer service reps to answer real questions. In addition, recordings of calls with angry customers are used to improve the menus.

Explanation : Robots take over dangerous jobs which decreases risk of injury to human workers, lowering cost to employers

Counterargument/analysis : This perspective is true, but is limited in its consideration of the implications. Robots can not only do things instead of humans, but can actually work with humans, as in precise surgery, to a better result than either humans or machines alone.

Step 4: Organize Your Essay

Now that you have the main points of your essay, it's time to organize them in a way that makes sense. Make sure to include your introduction (with your thesis statement containing your point of view, or at least a rough sense of your thesis statement) and conclusion in this organization. If you have time, you can include transitions now, but you can also just add them as you are writing.

Introduction

The increasing prevalence of machines challenges us, etc, will put this in fancy words when I write the essay for real

Body Paragraph 1

• Perspective One argues that replacing humans with machine leads us to lose part of our own humanity, because even our mundane daily encounters no longer require from us basic courtesy, respect, and tolerance for other people.
• I have witnessed this in my own life through watching my mother interact with some of those "sophisticated" automated phone systems. She sometimes gets so frustrated with the technology refusing to do what she wants that, by the time the menu allows her to speak to a real human, my mother is no longer courteous or respectful.
• Despite this frustration, I think the benefits outweigh the costs, because providing people with the option to submit prescriptions or ask about store hours through an automated menu frees up customer service reps to answer real questions. In addition, recordings of calls with angry customers are used to improve the menus.

Body Paragraph 2

• In contrast to Perspective One, Perspective Two argues that the main utility of machines is in their ability to perform repetitive tasks more precisely and efficiently than humans.
• In auto plants around the world, robots build cars on assembly lines, performing their jobs with high precision and at lower overall cost to employers, who can make a one time purchase rather than having to pay a human a yearly salary (and worry about liability issues)
• This perspective is fine as far as it goes, but is limited in its consideration of the implications. Robots can not only do things instead of humans, but can actually work with humans, as in precise surgery, to a better result than either humans or machines alone.

Body Paragraph 3

• The true impact of intelligent machines in our lives is that they challenge us to re-think our preconceived notions of what people can do or become in the future.
• An example of this is brain-computer interfaces that allow people to control computers with their brains.
• With BCIs, people can overcome physical limitations.. In addition, BCIs have capture the interest of people from all different backgrounds and are being applied to non-scientific fields to create new, previously unimagined inventions and ways to interact with the world.

In conclusion, rather than taking away from our humanity, intelligent machines help us to move forward as a species to new heights.

By the end of this step, you should try to have about 30 minutes left so you have enough time to write. If you don't, just keep in mind that you might have to skimp on some of your explanations/counterarguments for the perspective(s) you compare to your own.

Stage 2: Writing

Time: 25-28 minutes

Once you've structured your argument, it's time to write it all down!

Step 5: Introduction Paragraph & Thesis

Write your introduction. If you can think of an interesting first sentence that brings your thesis into a larger discussion, start with that. (If writing the introduction stumps you, just leave 10-15 lines blank at the beginning of the paper and come back to it.)

From the simplest system of pulleys and ropes in ancient Greece to the most complex supercomputer in the world today, machines have had (and continue to have) a profound influence on the development of humanity.

Make sure you clearly state your thesis. For a 3+ (out of 6) essay, this should include your perspective on the issue and how it relates to at least one of the other perspectives presented in the prompt.

While some argue that machines have a negative impact on us, the increasing prevalence of intelligent machines in the world challenges us to change long held beliefs about our limitations and to continue forward to new and even more advanced possibilities.

Step 6:  Body Paragraphs

When you start your first body paragraph , try to think of a first sentence that refers back to the first paragraph. Ideally, you'll start every paragraph by referring back to your thesis to create a unified argument.

One common argument against the increased presence of machines in our day-to-day lives is that machines leach away at our basic humanity.

Next, address the argument opposing yours (in this case, Perspective One). Explain the evidence that supports this perspective in three to five sentences.

I found this to be true in my own life as a result of witnessing many a phone conversation between my mother and an automated telephone menu. For whatever reason, she consistently has issues with the menus that try to verify her date of birth. The automated system never understands what she says (possibly because of her accent), and asks her to input the numbers via her keypad; of course, my mom's smartphone is so smart that the screen turns off while she is on a call, making it impossible for her to follow the automated phone system's instructions. By the time the system gives up and routes her to speak to a "human representative," my mother is often so frustrated that she is far from courteous and respectful to that person.

Then, make sure to explain your counterargument to this perspective, tying it back to your thesis.

Despite my mother's understandable frustration with automated phone systems, however, overall the benefits outweigh the costs. Providing people with the option to submit prescriptions or ask about store hours through an automated menu frees up customer service representatives to answer questions machines are incapable of addressing. In addition, the recordings of angry phone calls (where customers are not courteous, respectful, or tolerant of other humans) are used to improve the phone menus to make them more user-friendly. Thus, the momentary disrespect toward other humans caused by machines is more than compensated for by the positive effects of those same machines.

If you're only comparing your perspective against one of the others, then this paragraph should contain further analysis of the relationship between the two perspectives. If you're comparing your perspective against both of the other perspectives (as I did in this essay), then this is where you introduce your thoughts on the second perspective.

Another school of thought argues that the main utility of machines is their ability to perform repetitive tasks more precisely and more efficiently than humans, which leads to a more prosperous and progressive world for everyone.

Address the argument of this second perspective (in this case, Perspective Two). Explain the evidence that supports this perspective in three to five sentences.

In auto plants around the world, robots build cars on assembly lines. Instead of having to pay a human employee a yearly salary, invest time in training that employee, and worry about liability should that employee be injured, manufacturing plants can now make a one-time purchase of an intelligent machine that will perform that same job at higher levels of precision. This leads to a more prosperous world for the manufacturers, as they are able to invest less money to get a better product.

Then, make sure to explain how this perspective relates back to your perspective.

This perspective is fine as far as it goes, but is limited in its consideration of the implications. Robots can not only work in place of humans, but can also work cooperatively with humans to a greater results than either could have hoped for alone. This can be seen in highly complex and delicate surgeries, where a surgeon controls robotic microtools to perform operations that even ten years ago would have been unimaginable and impossible.

Introduce your main perspective, linking it back to the counterarguments you've made against at least one of the other perspectives.

I agree with Perspective Three that the true impact of intelligent machines in our lives is that they challenge us to re-think our preconceived notions of what people can do or become in the future.

Present one final example in support of your perspective.

A final example of this is brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs. Humans are able to manipulate computers with their brains via electrodes that are either implanted in their brains or attached (temporarily) to their heads. With these intelligent machines, formerly paralyzed people who had no hope of communicating with others are able to transcend their physical limitations by concentrating to form words out of keyboards on the computer screens. In addition, BCIs have captured the interest of people from all different backgrounds and are being applied to non-scientific fields like music to create new, previously unimagined instruments that react to people's thoughts, adding a new dimension to an ancient art form. Truly, intelligent machines are providing the impetus not just for greater efficiency, but for greater accomplishments.

Step 7: Conclusion

Check your time. Try to have 5-6 minutes left at this point.

Come up with a quick sentence that restates your thesis to wrap up the essay.

In conclusion, rather than taking away from our humanity, intelligent machines actually help us to move forward as a species to achieve new, previously unimagined possibilities.

Stage 3: Revising

Time: 2-4 minutes

You've written out a full ACT essay now, which is great! The final step is to see if you can fix any errors or improve anything else about the essay.

Step 8: Reread & Revise

Let's look at our complete ACT essay example:

[1]     From the simplest system of pulleys and ropes in ancient Greece to the most complex supercomputer in the world today, machines have had (and continue to have) a profound influence on the development of humanity. While some argue that machines have a negative impact on us, the increasing prevalence of intelligent machines in the world challenge us to change long held beliefs about our limitations and to continue forward to new and even more advanced possibilities.

[2]     One common argument against the increased presence of machines in our day-to-day lives is that machines leach away at our basic humanity. I found this to be true in my own life as a result of witnessing many a phone conversation between my mother and an automated telephone menu. For whatever reason, she consistently has issues with the menus that try to verify her date of birth. The automated system never understands what she says (possibly because of her accent), and asks her to input the numbers via her keypad; of course, my mom's smartphone is so smart that the screen turns off while she is on a call, making it impossible for her to follow the automated phone system's instructions. By the time the system gives up and routes her to speak to a "human representative," my mother is often so frustrated that she is far from courteous and respectful to that person. Despite my mother's understandable frustration with automated phone systems, however, overall the benefits outweigh the costs. Providing people with the option to submit prescriptions or ask about store hours through an automated menu frees up customer service representatives to answer questions machines are incapable of addressing. In addition, the recordings of angry phone calls (where customers are not courteous, respectful, or tolerant of other humans) are used to improve the phone menus to make them more user-friendly. Thus, the momentary disrespect toward other humans caused by machines is more than compensated for by the positive effects of those same machines.

[3]     Another school of thought argues that the main utility of machines is their ability to perform repetitive tasks more precisely and more efficiently than humans, which leads to a more prosperous and progressive world for everyone. In auto plants around the world, robots build cars on assembly lines. Instead of having to pay a human employee a yearly salary, invest time in training that employee, and worry about liability should that employee be injured, manufacturing plants can now make a one-time purchase of an intelligent machine that will perform that same job at higher levels of precision. This leads to a more prosperous world for the manufacturers, as they are able to invest less money to get a better product. This perspective is fine as far as it goes, but is limited in its consideration of the implications. Robots can not only work in place of humans, but can also work cooperatively with humans to a greater results than either could have hoped for alone. This can be seen in highly complex and delicate surgeries, where a surgeon controls robotic microtools to perform operations that even ten years ago would have been unimaginable and impossible.

[4]     I agree with Perspective Three that the true impact of intelligent machines in our lives is that they challenge us to re-think our preconceived notions of what people can do or become in the future. A final example of this is brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs. Humans are able to manipulate computers with their brains via electrodes that are either implanted in their brains or attached (temporarily) to their heads. With these intelligent machines, formerly paralyzed people who had no hope of communicating with others are able to transcend their physical limitations by concentrating to form words out of keyboards on the computer screens. In addition, BCIs have captured the interest of people from all different backgrounds and are being applied to non-scientific fields like music to create new, previously unimagined instruments that react to people's thoughts, adding a new dimension to an ancient art form. Truly, intelligent machines are providing the impetus not just for greater efficiency, but for greater accomplishments.

[5]     In conclusion, rather than taking away from our humanity, intelligent machines actually help us to move forward as a species to achieve new, previously unimagined possibilities.

In these last 2-4 minutes, you want to read over your essay and trying to pick up a point or two by revising. In this time, you can do a number of things.

You can, of course, correct mistakes :

Paragraph 1, Sentence 2: [subject/verb agreement; change is bolded]

The increasing prevalence of intelligent machines in the world challenges us to change long held beliefs about our limitations and to continue forward to new and even more advanced possibilities.

You can replace dull or problematic words or phrasing with fancier words or clearer turns of phrase:

Paragraph 2, last sentence

Thus, the momentary disrespect toward other humans caused by machines is more than compensated for by the positive effects of those same machines.

We can change it to:

Thus, any momentary disrespect my mom might show to a customer service representative (as a result of frustration with the automated system) is more than compensated for by the positive effects of those same machines.

There you go! Now you know how to write a good ACT essay.

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Our blog post about ACT essay tips has more in-depth information about the details of planning and arguing in the ACT essay.

If you've already taken the ACT and are wondering how to get your essay up to a perfect 12 score, definitely be sure to check out our article on getting a 12 on the ACT Writing section.

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Laura graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College with a BA in Music and Psychology, and earned a Master's degree in Composition from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. She scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and GRE and loves advising students on how to excel in high school.

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Writing Sample Essays

Write a unified, coherent essay about the increasing presence of intelligent machines. In your essay, be sure to: 

• clearly state your own perspective on the issue and analyze the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective
• develop and support your ideas with reasoning and examples
• organize your ideas clearly and logically
• communicate your ideas effectively in standard written English

Your essay perspective may be in full agreement with any of those given, in partial agreement, or completely different.

Get more information about preparing for the writing test .

Sample Test Questions

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The Florida Parental Rights in Education Act Essay

Can one person’s freedom lie in the suppression of another person’s freedom? In recent years, the movement to protect and defend the rights of the LGBTQ+ community has seen a significant boost. However, it has seen a plethora of challenges as well. One of these challenges presents itself in the form of the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, which has been deemed an intrusion upon LGBTQ+ rights (Kline et al., 2022). The Act prohibits the discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in grades K-3, which has led several parents to file lawsuits against schools that have to abide by the Act. The parents claim that the Act goes against the First Amendment, infringing upon freedom of speech (Leonard, 2022). In the age of widely open political debates and the spread of various types of information, the idea of freedom becomes increasingly muddled by different rhetoric and agendas.

Florida Senate passed the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act (also known as the Don’t Say Gay Act) in March of 2022. As the proponents of the Act state, it aims to prohibit school districts from making critical decisions regarding the children’s mental health and emotional state without parents’ permission (Leonard, 2022). Those, who support the Act, claim that this measure would prevent the use of sexually explicit and age-inappropriate content in schools. In addition, it is highly beneficial to have parents be involved in the education process as its positive outcomes include better grades and attitudes towards school (Ornstein et al., 2017). It is logical to have parents influence discussions that take place in the classroom as well.

On the other hand, there are claims that, in actuality, the Act aims to impede the freedom of speech of LGBTQ+ community members. Indeed, the restrictions lie not only within not allowing the introduction of explicit materials to children aged three to five. More specifically, it prohibits the discussion of gender identity and sexuality, which, in turn, prevents children from stating their gender inclinations, preferences, or family situation. For example, a child of same-sex parents or with queer family members is not allowed to mention them in school. Therefore, the Act creates a clash between two freedoms: the freedom to educate one’s child to the parents’ liking and the freedom of speech and expression. Furthermore, this places the freedom of those who believe gender identity and sexuality discussion to be detrimental to a child’s development above the freedoms of those who do not. Naturally, this clash leads to legal problems for the school districts. On the one hand, they could face repercussions for not abiding by the Act. On the other hand, dissatisfied parents can file lawsuits on the grounds of freedom of speech infringement.

In conclusion, the question of freedom of speech is a serious topic that can be approached from various angles. Florida Parental Rights in Education Act creates one such example. In order to avoid the negative consequences that the clash of two agendas can generate, the school board can devise a policy to consider the parents’ input on the subject. The school can hold a meeting where the parents can discuss their preferences regarding gender identity and sexual orientation discussions and how to define age-appropriate topics. In addition, the parents should be warned that preventing children from speaking out on these matters infringes upon the freedom of speech right.

Kline, N. S., Griner, S. B., Neelamegam, M., Webb, N. J., Morales, J. J., & Rhodes, S. D. (2022). Responding to “Don’t Say Gay” laws in the US: Research priorities and considerations for health equity. Sexuality Research and Social Policy , 1–6.

Leonard, A. S. (2022). US district court tosses constitutional & title IX challenge to Florida ‘Don’t Say Gay” provision on standing grounds. LGBT Law Notes, 13–14.

Ornstein, A. C., Levine, D. U., Gutek, G. L., & Vocke, D. E. (2017). Foundation of education. (3 rd edition ed.). Cengage Learning.

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IvyPanda. (2024, April 28). The Florida Parental Rights in Education Act. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-florida-parental-rights-in-education-act/

"The Florida Parental Rights in Education Act." IvyPanda , 28 Apr. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/the-florida-parental-rights-in-education-act/.

IvyPanda . (2024) 'The Florida Parental Rights in Education Act'. 28 April.

IvyPanda . 2024. "The Florida Parental Rights in Education Act." April 28, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-florida-parental-rights-in-education-act/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Florida Parental Rights in Education Act." April 28, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-florida-parental-rights-in-education-act/.

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IvyPanda . "The Florida Parental Rights in Education Act." April 28, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-florida-parental-rights-in-education-act/.

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