Technical Writing and Test Prep: An Examination of Technical Writing in

Developed in the 1950s as a response to an increased divert in post-secondary education due to the G.I. Bill, the American College Testing Program, known today as make up, was a non- profit, tax- condone organization which provided standardized analyseing services meant to encourage students make better decisions about which colleges to attend and which programs to study, and provide information helpful to colleges both in the process of admitting students and in ensuring their success after enrollment ( flirt.org). Historically, the ACT has played an integral role in the developing the realms of education and the workforce, and it continues to support both education and workforce development in the 21st century. In 2002, the ACT organization announced a new corporate bodily structure, comprised of two divisions Education and Workforce Development. The new governance structure consists of a 14-member Board of Directors, and the expanded advising structure retains the ACT State Organizations but now also includes two distinct Advisory Boards, one for each of the new divisions (ACT.org) calling into question the companys non-profit title. Adorning a corporate title, however, suggests that the role of the ACT organization and its purpose of standardized testing persist as an economic enterprise whose sole purpose is to raise revenue. The ACT organization relies heavily on economic and technical developments that help sustain productivity and reliability of a product. In the case of the non-profit, tax exempt entity of ACT, standardized testing is big business as every year Americans spend millions on the tests they are required to write in order to be evaluated for admission into undergraduate and graduate programs, and many millions mor... ...valuation of a text designed by, marketed by, and sold by ACT Incorporated. Ultimately, connecting the history of ACT testing, the creation of a test preparation study guide distributed by a non-profit corporate ent ity, and a qualitative study of technical design is undoubtedly a challenge. However, the findings of such search will potentially challenge or strengthen notions about the validity of both standardized test and test prep materials with respect to technical writing. plant Cited Works CitedACT The First Fifty Years, 1959-2009. ACT.org. Act, Inc., 2009. Web. 1 Oct 2010. .Carter, Chris. The Case Against Standardized Tests. 6 Oct. 2009. testcritic.homestead.com. 23 Sep. 2010 .