ACT Participation Grows in SREB Region
Average scores hold steady as test-taking rate increases
Atlanta, GA — Nine of 16 SREB states saw an increase in
average composite ACT scores for the class of 2015, and six
others matched their composite score from 2014. The admission
test results were released today by ACT Inc. Nationwide, the
average score for the class of 2015 was 20.1, the same as it was
in in 2014.
SREB states with gains in their average scores, ranging from
0.1 to 0.3 points, are Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
One-tenth of one point is statistically significant for average
ACT scores, making this jump a very positive sign of improvement
in the region. Average scores in Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma,
South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas remained the same.
From 2014 to 2015, the number of students taking the test grew
significantly in SREB states — up 6 percent. States with notable
increases in participation rate include Alabama, Georgia and
Oklahoma. The number of all graduating seniors in the United
States who took the test while in high school rose 2 percent,
continuing a recent upward trend in test participation.
Alabama saw a particularly steep increase in participation —
jumping from 80 percent of the Class of 2014 to 100 percent of
the Class of 2015. Adopted by the State Board of Education in
2013, Alabama’s Plan 2020 began paying for high school students
to take the ACT beginning in 2014.
It is not unusual for the average composite score in a state to
decline if participation reaches 100 percent quickly,
because the results reflect the full range of students in the
class and are not limited to those who choose to take the test
for college admission. Alabama’s average composite score dropped
1.5 points to a 19.1 for the Class of 2015.
Alabama is one of six SREB states in which
100 percent of the current graduating seniors took the ACT while
in high school in 2015. The others are Kentucky, Louisiana,
Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee. In 2016, South
Carolina will join these states, and the following year Oklahoma
will join them.
ACT results are particularly important in the 12 SREB states in
which more than 50 percent of graduating seniors take the test
while in high school. In these 12 states the test provides a
measure of the achievement of their recent high school graduates.
These 12 states include all SREB states except Delaware,
Maryland, Texas and Virginia.
Nationwide, 28 percent of the Class of 2015 who took the ACT
while in high school met all of ACT’s college readiness
benchmarks, which link ACT results to expected
student performance in college freshman courses. In the 12 SREB
states in which a majority of seniors took the test, 21 percent
met all four of the benchmarks — a 2 percent increase from 2014.
While this increase kept pace with the national increase, it does
not close the 7-point gap between the region and nation.
SREB states made more progress in meeting benchmarks in reading
and English, with three SREB states at or above the national
percentages of students meeting benchmarks, than in math and
science. All SREB states trailed the nation in math and
science.
“As more students take the ACT, we have a clearer picture of the
work ahead to prepare all students for success in college,” said
SREB Vice President Joan Lord. “SREB states have made
important gains on the college-readiness benchmarks, but in the
STEM areas, there is much work ahead.”
Overall, composite scores improved for black and Hispanic
students in SREB states. Scores for black students improved from
2014 in 14 states and for Hispanic students in 10 states. Average
scores also improved for white students in most SREB states from
2014.