Statewide ACT Scores drop upon implementation of 100% Testing

On Tuesday, the results of The ACT® assessment for the South Carolina 2016 high school graduates were released. In years past, the students taking the ACT were those taking it as a college entrance requirement. However, the state is in the second year of testing 100% of eleventh graders and, as expected, the result is that the average of the scores has dropped. The scores of graduating seniors across the state show that only 14 percent of South Carolina high school graduates are meeting ACT’s college ready benchmarks in English, Reading, Mathematics, and Science. The average ACT composite score of 18.5 for SC students fell short of the national average score of 20.8. The average ACT composite score for the School District of Oconee County was 18.3, just below the state average. In 2015, with only 243 students taking the test, the SDOC mean composite score was 21.3. In 2016, with 602 taking the test, the mean composite score was 18.3. The district’s English mean score of 17.2 was close to the benchmark score of 18 in the subject. “It is obvious we have work to do to ensure that our students are college and career ready,” said Dr. Michael Thorsland, superintendent of education. “We have made a clear commitment to this and have identified strategies in our strategic plan to accomplish this goal.” Although the students meeting college readiness benchmarks is low, 83 percent of South Carolina’s 2016 ACT tested graduates stated they intended to attend postsecondary education. According to ACT, “the benchmarks are scores on The ACT® subject-area tests that represent the level of achievement required for students to have 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.” “A recent report from The Education Trust found that almost half of American high school graduates do not complete either a college or career-ready course of study,” said Ginger Hopkins, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction. She continued, “Parents, guidance counselors and students should ensure that students are taking college and career ready courses to prepare them for success. We must increase the expectations we have of our students if we are to prepare them for the future. We encourage our teachers to share their best practices of techniques and strategies. We have wonderful teachers doing very creative and amazing things that they can then use to help other teachers. We must work together as a district to get our students ready.” “We expected a slight drop in scores with the 100% testing requirement,” said Thorsland. “We continue to push toward being one of the top 10 school districts in the state of South Carolina. We want to be known as a school district where the expectation is that all students will push themselves to learn and accomplish as much as they can during their school years. Reaching that goal will be an indication that we are preparing our students to be College and Career Ready,” added Thorsland. The 100% testing requirement was instituted by the General Assembly through Act 200, which Governor Haley signed into law May 30, 2014. Act 200 states in part “the Executive Director of the State Budget and Control Board, with the advice and consent of the special assessment panel, also must direct the procurement of a college and career readiness assessment that meets the requirements of subsection (A). The procurement must be completed before September 30, 2014. In addition to WorkKeys, the assessment must be administered to all students entering the eleventh grade for the first time in the 2014-2015 school year.”