Metro Atlanta teen’s delay in standardized test results may affect scholarship chances

HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — A mother of a Henry County teen is nervous that delays in standardized test results may affect her son’s scholarship chances.

Ashley Speer and her son Jermaine are frustrated, after receiving an email regarding testing results two days ago. The email stated that the contents of the package from Jermaine’s Dec. 11 ACT test were lost in transit.

“My first thought was wow,” Speer said. “He was banking on this test to get the Zell Miller Scholarship.”

Jermaine, an honor student at Ola High School in McDonough, has been corresponding back and forth with the ACT on trying to locate his test results.

“It’s been very frustrating,” Speer said.

Jermaine says he needs the results in order to apply and qualify for scholarships.

Speer says that because they have no results, Jermaine has already missed deadlines for some scholarship opportunities.

“He’s obviously upset over the situation because no one wants to carry the burden of student debt,” Speer said.

Channel 2′s Ashli Lincoln has found that this isn’t an isolated problem for the Speers. Students across the nation have found themselves dealing with missing or lost results.

“This is 2022, why is this not digital,” Speer said.

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The ACT says several factors can lead to missing test results, such as packages getting lost in the mail or at testing sites.

It’s a problem that has been reported prior to the pandemic.

In Jermaine’s case, the organization didn’t specify how his results got lost.

“One kid this is happening to is one too many,” Speer said.

A spokesperson said while it’s unfortunate when this happens, it is a rare occurrence.

“I understand that the percentage is small, but those are still kids impacted by it and if there is a way that we can avoid this altogether that would be beneficial,” Speer said.

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