This week marked the return to school for several area districts, and with that new course syllabi came some good news for local schools as ACT college entrance exam scores were released Wednesday.
Composite ACT test scores for all students in the U.S. were down by a tenth of a percent in 2010 compared to the year before. However, ACT Media Relations Director Scott Gomer said the number of students who met the college readiness benchmark scores in all four areas measured — college English composition, college algebra, college social science and college biology — increased in Kansas by 3 percentage points up to 28 percent.
Meeting the benchmark means that a test-taker has at least a 50-percent chance of earning a B or higher in the college coursework in that subject and a 75-percent chance of earning a grade of C or higher in that class, Gomer said.
On top of that, he said nationwide the number of students who took the test has increased by 30 percent over the last five years to a record 1.568 million.
“It is encouraging,” Gomer said.
Based on a scoring scale from 1 to 36, Gomer said the ACT test serves a number of purposes, measuring academic achievement in students, providing input on school curriculum and projecting college readiness in students.
Several high schools in Leavenworth County saw the composite scores from their seniors rise from the previous year and exceed the national and state averages.
Nationwide, the high school graduating class of 2010 had an average composite score of 21, according to ACT’s statistics. The average composite score for schools in the state was 22.
Seniors at Pleasant Ridge, Immaculata and Lansing were all said to have scored an average of 23 or above.
“That’s good news to have,” as the district begins the year, Lansing Superintendent Randy Bagby said.
Though they won’t begin classes until Sept. 7, Leavenworth High School had a composite score of 21.7 — up from 21.1 last year and the highest in the last five years, according to Eric Punswick, assistant superintendent for Leavenworth Public Schools.
The biggest spike in composite scores came from Pleasant Ridge, where the average jumped from 19.9 in 2009 to 23 in 2010. School Superintendent Charles Coblentz said in a small district — a total of 62 students graduated from PRHS and 46 students took the ACT in 2010 — scores are more likely to vary that much from year to year. But surpassing the state average this year, without any additional programs available through the school to help students prepare for the ACT, was still notable.
