Iowa ACT scores slip

The overall score of Iowa students on the A-C-T college entrance exam took aslight drop this year.The statewide average score of Iowa students dropped one-tenth of a pointon the test which is considered a top indicator of how well students areprepared for college. Iowa Department of Education Director Ted Stilwellsays the small drop is just part of a five to ten year trend of noimprovement that worries state officials.Stilwell says parents and teachers need to do a better job of encouragingstudents to take the core courses to prepare them for a college education.Stilwell says students can’t be counted on to take the initiative in gettingthe courses they need.The Iowa A-C-T score of 22, is still one point above the national average.The top score possible is 36. Wisconsin students ranked first with acomposite score of twenty-two-point-three and unchanged from last year. Minnesota finished in second at twenty-two-point-one, with the same drop incomposite score as Iowa. The comparison of scores uses the 25 states whereat least 50-percent of the students take the test.