By Sandy Garrett, State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The first of many reports on the Class of 2010 are in and we are making strides! The Class of 2010 is the first class of Oklahoma students to graduate under a required work-ready/college-ready curriculum mandated by the Achieving Classroom Excellence Act of 2005 (ACE law).
This week, ACT, Inc., released test scores nationwide and the results show that a record number (28,343) of graduating seniors in Oklahoma’s Class of 2010 took the ACT, a college-entrance exam. This is 1,289 or 4.8 percent more than did in 2009, and it resulted in 73 percent of our graduating seniors taking the ACT, compared to 47 percent nationally.
What does this mean? It means that with the new ACE curriculum and a focus on higher expectations for high school students, we have more students prepared for college or other education after high school, and who are confident enough to take the ACT.
The voluntary ACT exam is designed to predict success in college, and is graded on a scale score of 0 to 36.
Most states with an increase of test-takers also saw a decrease in the average composite score, however, Oklahoma held steady. This year, more Oklahoma students reached ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks for all four content areas over the previous year. While the state’s average ACT composite score remained stable at 20.7, the nation’s average fell 0.1 to 21.0.
Compared to other states in the south, Oklahoma’s composite score and number of graduating seniors taking the ACT were among the highest. Oklahoma and West Virginia had the highest average composite scores of all the “ACT states” in the south, or those states that have 50 percent or more of their graduating seniors take the ACT.
Once again this year’s results show that Oklahoma’s greatest challenge continues to be in the subject of mathematics. For improvement to be seen, parents, school leaders and lawmakers need to make math more of a priority.
The state’s average science subscore increased, while English and reading decreased slightly. The state’s reading score remains its highest subscore on the ACT and the percentage of Oklahoma students achieving college-readiness benchmarks in reading on the ACT equals the national average. The percentage of Oklahoma students achieving ACT’s college-readiness benchmark in English actually exceeds the national average.
The results in the state’s three largest minority student groups (African American/Black, American Indian/Native American and Hispanic students) all showed higher ACT composite scores than their national counterparts. A considerable difference remains between minority students’ average scores and their Caucasian peers, although, that achievement gap is narrowing in Oklahoma.
For the first time in our state’s history there are nearly three-fourths of Oklahoma students taking the ACT and this also means more are interested in attending college. We must continue to focus on what is necessary: ALL students need to be prepared for success in college and today’s workplace.
