Average scores on the ACT college entrance exam inched downward this year, yet slightly more students who took the test proved to be prepared for college, according to a report released Wednesday.
The findings sound contradictory. But the exam’s authors point to a growing and more diverse group of test-takers and, though many are likely scoring lower overall, more are also meeting benchmarks used to measure college readiness.
Last spring’s high school seniors averaged a composite score of 21.0 on the test’s scale of 1 to 36, down slightly from 21.1 last year and the lowest score of the last five years.
In Texas, the number of seniors who took the test increased, but the average composite score of 20.8 remained the same since the previous year. Texas scores improved slightly on science and math but slid on reading and English scores.
At the same time, 24 percent of ACT-tested students met or surpassed all four of the test’s benchmarks measuring their preparedness for college English, reading, math and science. That is up from 23 percent last year and 21 percent in 2006.
The number of Texas seniors who met or surpassed all four of the ACT’s benchmarks for college readiness improved to 24 percent. That’s up from 22 percent in 2009 and 18 percent in 2006.
Although the national scores show three in four test-takers will likely need remedial help in at least one subject to succeed in college, ACT officials are encouraged to see improvement as ever-larger numbers of students take the exam.
