Georgia students struggle most in math, science on ACT test
At least 60 percent of Georgia’s college-bound seniors may struggle to earn a “B” or better as they advance to college-level math and science courses, based on results released Wednesday of the ACT national college admissions exam.
Across the state, 48,505 students, or 51 percent of Georgia’s most recent high school graduates, took the ACT, which some see as an easier alternative to the SAT, long the dominant test for college-bound seniors in the region.
The ACT is generally considered to measure what a student has learned in particular subject areas, while the SAT is viewed as more of an aptitude test that measures a student’s verbal and reasoning skills.
ACT results for Georgia and the nation were almost identical in English and reading, with 64 percent of test-takers forecast to have a 50-50 chance of making a B or better in English and 43 to 44 percent likely to make that grade in reading.
But the results were not so promising in math and science:
- Thirty-eight percent of Georgia test-takers met the benchmarks for math, compared to 44 percent nationally.
- In science, only 33 percent of students in the state and 36 percent nationally had the minimum scores needed to indicate a 50 percent chance of obtaining a B or higher, or about a 75 percent chance of obtaining a C or higher in corresponding credit-bearing first-year college courses.
Jon Whitmore, ACT chief executive officer, said the new results reaffirm that “too many students are likely to struggle after they graduate from high school.”
“As a nation, we must set ambitious goals and take strong action to address this consistent problem,” Whitmore said. “The competitiveness of our young people and of our nation as a whole in the global economy is at stake.”
Matt Cardoza, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Education, said educators have for several years recognized that students, statewide and nationally, aren’t performing at the levels they need to in math and science.
“That’s one of the reasons we’re trying to make sure that students see the relevance of it,” Cardoza said. “The more excited they get about it, the better results we’ll see.”
Of students in Georgia who took the ACT, only 23 percent tested well enough in English, reading, math and science to have a 50-50 chance of making Bs or better in all four subjects, statewide ACT results show.
Nationally, the prospects for the Class of 2013 were only slightly better, with 26 percent of ACT test-takers meeting the measures for college success in all four subject areas.
For a second year in a row, English was the only subject in which a majority of Georgia test-takers met the ACT’s college-readiness benchmarks.
Georgia’s average score on the ACT was 20.7, unchanged from the 2012.
The national average score fell from 21.1 in 2012 to 20.9 in 2013, which some say could be the direct result of increased numbers of students opting to take the ACT.
“We won’t be satisfied with being at the national average, but at least we’ve closed that gap,” Cardoza said. “And that’s the first goal.”
ACT scores were not released in all metro Atlanta districts. But in Gwinnett, officials reported a slight increase in their average overall score, from 21.9 to 22. And in Cobb, the overall average score dipped slightly from 22.2 to 22.1 in 2013, spokesman Doug Goodwin said.
Many colleges and universities, including the University of Georgia and Georgia State University, will consider either SAT or ACT scores as a factor in a student’s admission.
At Georgia State, officials saw a 21 percent, one-year increase in students submitting their ACT scores as part of their application for enrollment, said Scott Burke, assistant vice president and director of undergraduate admissions. Among students recently admitted to the Atlanta university, the average overall ACT score was 24, well above the state average, Burke said.
