State’s ACT scores flat

By Nancy Badertscher

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia high school seniors this year ended a streak of steady gains on ACT, an increasingly popular test for evaluating whether students are ready for college, data released early today shows.

On a scale of 1 to 36, with 36 being the highest possible score, 36,165 of Georgia’s 2009 high school graduates had an average ACT composite score of 20.6.

That was unchanged from 2008 and the first time since 2005 that state scores did not improve. Still Georgia moved up in the national rankings to 40th, up from 41st in 2008 and 47th in 2005.

The state scores mirrored what happened when the ACT college admission and placement exam, which focuses on the English, math, reading and science skills needed for college, was administered to nearly 1.5 million students nationwide. The national composite ACT score was unchanged from 2008 at 21.1.

Unchanged, as well, was the finding that only 19 percent of ACT test-takers in Georgia appear positioned to make a “C” or better in all four areas of study in their first year of college. The national figure was 23 percent, up 1 percentage point from 2008, the nonprofit Iowa-based ACT reported.

Students who took the ACT in Gwinnett County fared better than those in the state (20.6) or nation (21.1), earning an average composite test score of 22.1.

“Significant in that increase is that scores for Gwinnett’s black, white and Asian students improved, and our Hispanic test-takers average held constant,” Gwinnett School Superintendent Alvin Wilbanks said.

Systemwide data is expected to be made public later today.

Kathy Cox, state superintendent of schools, said the ACT scores, when broken down by race, showed Georgia students outscoring the national average in some categories. For example, she said, Georgia’s African-American students had an average composite score of 17.4, higher than the national average of 16.9.

But she said that doesn’t mean there’s not more work to do. “Georgia must remain focused and determined to provide all students with a high-quality education so that we can close the achievement gap and prepare our students for the 21st century,” Cox said.

Ed Colby, with ACT media relations, said of Georgia’s scores: “The overall trend over time is positive.”

The number of Georgia students taking the ACT grew about 9 percent, from 33,238 in 2008 to 36,165 in 2009. About 40 percent of the state’s college-bound students are taking the ACT, compared to about 70 percent who take the better-known college admissions exam SAT.

“We’re really kind of quickly becoming a two-test state,” said Dana Tofig, spokesman for the state Department of Education.

Joan Lord, with the Southern Regional Education Board, said one of the significant findings is that students who say they take a curriculum recommended by ACT continue to show improvement on the test.

Bob Schaeffer, public education director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest), said the results in Georgia should raise some concerns. “If ‘No Child Left Behind’ is really fulfilling its goals of improving overall academic performance and closing the achievement gap, why have ACT college readiness scores for Georgia remained stagnant?”