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Whether high school students take college-admissions tests used to be an individual decision. But a growing number of states are requiring that step and even making the exams a core part of their own testing systems.

Proponents argue that having all teenagers take the exams will encourage more young people to think about college and motivate them to take state tests seriously. But the policies also raise knotty issues, including whether the scores should be used to determine if schools have made adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

鈥淲hile we want kids to be better prepared for their future and go to college, can we use the same exam for AYP purposes, too?鈥� said Edward Roeber, the testing director for the Michigan Department of Education. 鈥淚 think the jury is still out in Michigan.鈥�

Michigan, Illinois, and Maine are all waiting to hear from the U.S. Department of Education about whether they can use a college-admissions test as a key element for rating schools under the federal law.

Maine gave the SAT to all high school juniors for the first time this past spring. Michigan plans to give the ACT, the other national college-entrance exam, to all high school juniors next spring, pending federal approval. Kentucky plans to give the ACT starting in 2007-08, and other states are considering it as well.

All 11th graders in Colorado and Illinois have taken the ACT to measure their knowledge of English, mathematics, reading, and science since the 2000-01 school year, although Colorado does not use the tests for federal accountability purposes.

鈥淭here are probably eight to a dozen states who are in some stage of serious examination of whether this is an option for them or not,鈥� said Jon L. Erickson, the vice president of educational services for the Iowa City, Iowa-based ACT Inc.

State officials say a primary reason for making the tests mandatory and free of charge is to encourage more high school students to prepare for and enroll in postsecondary education.

鈥淚t鈥檚 our belief that you must graduate college-, career-, and citizenship-ready,鈥� said Susan A. Gendron, Maine鈥檚 commissioner of education. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 our message to our state and our young people.鈥�

Maine had an 11th grade test that had been in place for 20 years, she said, but anecdotal data suggested students 鈥渄idn鈥檛 take it seriously.鈥�

鈥淎nd our scores were stagnant on that assessment for the last five years,鈥� Ms. Gendron said.

About three-quarters of Maine seniors were already taking the SAT, which is also used by the state鈥檚 public colleges and universities for placement and admissions decisions, so the test had currency. It also saved time. Maine juniors took the exam on a Saturday, compared with the four or five school days previously devoted to state testing. Michigan鈥檚 testing window, formerly spread out over three weeks, will be two to three days under the new plan.

Alignment Challenges

Some analysts see a trade-off, though, given that college-admissions tests do not always line up closely with states鈥� academic-content standards.

鈥淲hen it comes to the ACT or the SAT, the obvious upside is that it鈥檚 got credibility with higher education and with parents,鈥� said Matthew Gandal, the executive vice president of the Washington-based Achieve Inc., a nonprofit group that advocates tying standards for high school graduation to those for college admission. 鈥淭he challenge in doing this is the alignment issue.鈥�

Maine has submitted results from both an internal alignment study and one conducted by Norman L. Webb, a senior research scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to the federal government. Mr. Webb found that the state鈥檚 content standards were aligned with the SAT in reading, but that the state expected students to learn more probability and statistics than the SAT鈥檚 math section measures, Ms. Gendron said.

Maine has proposed adding some questions to its high school science test, which will be given for the first time next spring, and to use students鈥� performance on those items for calculating AYP in addition to students鈥� SAT scores. 鈥淲e think that鈥檚 going to be an acceptable approach,鈥� said Ms. Gendron, who is scheduled to meet Sept. 20 with Henry L. Johnson, the federal Education Department鈥檚 assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education.

Michigan also conducted a series of alignment studies and has proposed double-counting some test questions to measure standards in different subjects and to add items to its testing system. Starting in March, juniors in Michigan are slated to take the ACT Plus Writing assessment, the reading and math portions of the WorkKeys exam (an ACT Inc. test that measures work readiness), and state tests in science, mathematics, and social studies as part of the new Michigan Merit Examination.

But some educators and observers contend that, despite such studies, neither the ACT nor the SAT is designed to measure students鈥� mastery of state content standards or to rate schools.

鈥淭his is an inappropriate use of the instrument, because you鈥檙e not using it as it was designed,鈥� said Ben A. Milster, the guidance director for Mt. Blue High School in Farmington, Maine, and the immediate past president of the Maine Counseling Association. That group, along with the American Counseling Association and the National Association for College Admission Counseling, opposed using the SAT as Maine鈥檚 high school test.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to divert even more time from rich learning to test preparation, because now you suddenly have a different test to prep for,鈥� argued Robert Schaeffer, the public education director of the National Center for Fair & Opening Testing, or FairTest, a Cambridge, Mass.-based watchdog group that also opposed the adoption of the SAT in Maine.

One of the concerns in using college-entrance tests for school accountability is that parents often enroll their children in private test-coaching programs designed to boost scores. Since more-affluent families are more likely to have access to such services, the coaching could bolster results in some schools but not others.

鈥淚 would think states would have to figure out how to adjust for that,鈥� said Robert F. Sexton, the executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, an advocacy group based in Lexington, Ky. 鈥淢aybe it鈥檚 a problem that could be solved, but I haven鈥檛 even heard it discussed.鈥�

To help level the playing field, Maine negotiated with the New York City-based College Board, which sponsors the SAT, to give all high school students access to an online SAT-preparation program. In Michigan, the Michigan Virtual University will provide all public and private high schools with access to online test-prep materials.

But Mr. Roeber, the Michigan testing director, said he鈥檚 talked with at least one principal who鈥檚 already purchased extra test coaching for his students, 鈥渟o you鈥檒l still have disparities.鈥�

Mr. Erickson of the ACT said the best preparation is for students to take rigorous, in-depth coursework. 鈥淚t comes down more to the depth and quality and quantity of the coursework or the curriculum that schools are providing,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd that鈥檚 probably the uneven playing field.鈥�

Play by the Rules

For students to use the test results for college admissions, states also must abide by the ACT鈥檚 and the College Board鈥檚 standards for secure test administration, which are often far more stringent than those used by states.

For instance, no one involved in administering the ACT can be related to any student who would be eligible to take the exam that year鈥攚hether a child, a nephew, or a grandchild. That rule could pose a challenge for states trying to offer the test in every public high school on a given day.

Initially, the National Collegiate Athletic Association refused to consider the Colorado ACT sufficiently secure to qualify students academically for playing college sports. So, until this year, Colorado teenagers applying as athletes to Division 1 or 2 schools got a state-funded voucher to take the ACT during a regular Saturday administration. The NCAA changed its policy, effective this school year.

Providing appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities and English-language learners has also proved complex, since states typically permit some accommodations that are not allowed by either the SAT or the ACT. Although eligible students may still use such accommodations, the resulting scores count for state and federal accountability purposes but not for college entrance.

鈥淭he point is鈥攁nd this is a big point鈥攖hat the accommodations component cannot be instituted on the day of the test or even a few days before,鈥� warned Elizabeth B. Celva, the director of student assessment for the Colorado Department of Education. 鈥淭here has to be sufficient planning of at least a month for a Colorado-allowed accommodation to take place.鈥�

鈥淚 think for students with disabilities, schools will find a lot of flexibility in the accommodations,鈥� said Mr. Roeber of Michigan. 鈥淔or English-language learners, there are real problems. I think it鈥檚 unfortunate that we don鈥檛 have access to a broader array of accommodations for English-language learners that result in college-reportable scores.鈥�

Despite such challenges and the cost鈥攁bout $43 per student in Maine and $73 per student in Michigan, including the state鈥檚 wraparound assessments鈥攕tates that have required college-entrance testing the longest say it is worth it.

College Enrollment Up

In Colorado, about 97 percent of high school students now take the ACT. 鈥淲hat we have seen, and we don鈥檛 know if we can directly attribute it to the Colorado ACT, is a rise in college enrollment in state colleges and universities of about 14 percent鈥� in the past five years, said Ms. Celva.

鈥淭he conversation in Illinois has changed dramatically about high school,鈥� said Rebecca A. McCabe, the state administrator for student assessment. Illinois gives both the ACT and WorkKeys as part of the Prairie State Achievement Exam. 鈥淭he positive is that there are high schools that are really now rolling up their sleeves and looking at curriculum,鈥� Ms. McCabe said.

Mr. Erickson of the ACT said that student preparation for college has improved over time in both Colorado and Illinois. And test scores generally have held steady or increased, even as test-taking rates have climbed.

Illinois鈥� ACT results for the graduating class of 2006 reflected the largest increase in the last five years. The 41 percent of test-takers who reported that they took a core college-preparatory curriculum had an average composite score of 22.6 out of a possible 36鈥攖he highest score since all Illinois public school 11th graders starting taking the exam in 2001.

But Mr. Schaeffer of FairTest questions who ultimately benefits from the new policies. For students, he said, 鈥渢he act of just taking the SAT or ACT is, in itself, not likely to change college-going behavior significantly.鈥�

True, students might wind up on the recruitment lists of colleges they鈥檇 never thought about. 鈥淏ut is that sufficient justification?鈥� Mr. Schaeffer said. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure there are ways to make kids college-aware without requiring the test.鈥�