Every high school and middle school in North Dakota is going to have one more tool to help students map out their future.

Students in 225 public and private schools throughout the state will now have access to Bridges Transitions, a provider of career and educational planning solutions, and their new test prep products for the ACT test. Student Loans of North Dakota at the Bank of North Dakota signed the agreement with Bridges to provide access to Bridges Guidance Central, a software program with career exploration, planning and tools. Middle schools will have access to a career and education planning software program.

More than 50 counselors and directors from across the state gathered at the Jack Science Center at Bismarck State College on Wednesday for training on the software. Many of the counselors have been using the career planning software from Bridges, but most of them hadn't used testGEAR, the new ACT test prep software.

Steve Beutler, the only career counselor for the Minot School District, said research shows if students use the ACT prep software before taking the ACT test, scores can increase by two to six points.

"It's good practice, it gives students a good idea of the format of the ACT test and really prepares them," Beutler said. "It immediately tells them if they got an answer wrong and explains what the correct answer is. It even uses old questions from the ACT test that are no longer used so it's like they are actually taking the test."

The Bank of North Dakota signed a three-year contract with Bridges to supply the software. The first-year student will have access to Choices Planner, Choices Explorer and testGEAR. The second and third years, schools will only have access to testGEAR, unless they pick up the cost for the other two software options themselves.

"If there is a vehicle to assist families in North Dakota that is our goal," said Julie Kubisiak, senior vice president and director of student loan services at the Bank of North Dakota. "How important is it for students to have higher education? It's so obvious in earning potential and reaching their personal goals in life."

Many of the counselors at the training said it is important for students to begin career planning and preparing for the ACT at the ninth-grade level.

"It's good to start early to be aware of what's out there and to narrow down interests," said Dolores Manson, career and development counselor from Sheyenne Valley Career and Technical Center in Valley City. "It's so crucial to their career planning."

Before the advances in technology students would have to use books or Web sites that charged them a fee to practice the ACT test. Now students can take the test online for free and start their career planning using the Bridges software. They just have to meet with their counselor to get the Web address and set up a password to access the site from any computer.

"I think kids will and do really use this at home," Beutler said.

Whitney Williams, a regional manager for Bridges Transitions, doesn't think the ACT test has gotten more difficult over the years.

"It's not more difficult, but there definitely is more resources available for students to prepare themselves for college or life after high school. We designed the software to be more engaging with video games instead of just reading. We want this to be fun."

Students will have access to the new software at the beginning of the school year.

(Reach reporter Kayla Cogdill at 250-8251 or kayla.cogdill@;bismarcktribune.com.)