State law not only mandates that public high school students take the ACT junior year, it mandates that Kentucky public colleges consider ACT scores for admission purposes.
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“The diligence and commitment from our staff and students in the classroom is reflected in the ACT composite score increasing each year”, said Mark Meyer, GEHS principal.
The composite score for all Georgia students was 21.1 and the national composite was 20.8.
The ACT tests students in English, mathematics, reading and science and is created to measure skills needed for success in first-year college coursework.
Released Wednesday, this year’s report says only 20 percent of Kentucky’s class of 2016 met benchmarks in all ACT subject areas – a score of at least 18 in English, 22 in reading, 22 in math and 23 in science out of a possible 36.
An optional writing test also measures skill in planning and writing a short essay.
The state average on ACT scores is 19.7 for Kentucky public high school graduates, which means both school districts are doing better than the state average.
Get free real-time news alerts from the Cumming Patch. Although about 3,000 more students took the test this year, the average score for public school students held steady at 19.4 this year, said Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen.
But with more students, came a slight dip in test scores.
Georgia had 58,073 ACT test takers in 2016, compared to 54,653 in the graduating class of 2015 – a 5.9 percent increase.
The local schools whose score declined are Carver by 0.2 points (from 16.8 to 16.6), Chattahoochee County by 0.2 points (from 19.2 to 19.0), Harris County by 0.2 points (from 20.4 to 20.2), Shaw by 0.2 points (from 18.0 to 17.8) and Columbus by 0.1 point (from 25.6 to 25.5).
Sandy Springs’ Riverwood led the way with a score of 22.9 but was almost a full point below last year’s mark.
The five area schools topping that average were: Covenant Christian, 21.7; Florence, 19.8; Mars Hill Bible School, 23; Muscle Shoals, 20.7; and Shoals Christian, 24.6.
“We’re very proud of that”, he said. “More students were tested, too”.
In a release issued by the South Sioux City School District, district officials said the pilot project was to see if the ACT could be used as a statewide measure of college readiness. By comparison, 1.7 million graduating seniors in 2015 took the SAT, the other major college entrance exam. That’s why we encourage everybody to study and prepare, because for some, it’s “backing up” to take this math portion of the test. “This reaffirms one of the core goals of our strategic plan, to increase the percentage of high school graduates who are college and/or career ready”.
“Within each department, we spend time analyzing college readiness, data and student scores”.
Superintendent Jennifer Gray admits there’s work to be done, but also points to research showing that a student’s grade point average and high school transcript are better indicators of a student’s chances of success after high school.
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Eudora High School offers two ACT preparation classes per semester, Abel said.
