Education Law

ACT scores announced

ACT announced today the test scores of this year’s graduating students. There was a slight increase in students who met all four of ACT’s readiness benchmarks (in English, reading, math, and science), but there was also a slight decline in students’ composite scores.

ACT says the results point to “the need for school districts and states to focus their attention on the essential knowledge and skills needed for college and career readiness.” Some naysayers, however, may believe that this year’s results show, once again, that  high school graduates are incapable of performing the essentials that will get them into college, thus making us a weak nation. But we believe there’s more to the story than that.

On the surface, ACT scores remaining virtually flat doesn’t sound like good news, but it really is. In 2009, two more states (KY, WY) were added to the three (CO, IL, MI) that already require all students to take the ACT, thus adding more non-college-bound students to the mix.

Typically, when there is a large increase in test-takers on college entrance exams, such as the ACT, scores tend to decline because more lower-performing students are taking the test. For example, when Colorado and Illinois began administering the ACT to all students, instead of just college-bound students, scores in both states initially dropped but began to increase in the following years.

Increasing the number of students who take the ACT, or any other college entrance exam, is a step in the right direction. If we want to close the achievement gap, then more students need access to more rigorous classes–and tests like the ACT. Numerous schools and districts around the country have opened their Advanced Placement courses to all students, not just the highest performers. And some states and districts have made the college curriculum the default curriculum for all students. We believe school boards are right to support academic policies that will get more of their students into college.

For more information, view the full ACT report.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on August 20, 2009 (boomark / email).