Results from the ACT college entrance exam show Iowa remains in second place for the average composite score. Iowa Department of Education spokesperson, Elaine Watkins-Miller, says it is good news to see that Iowa held the number two spot.
Watkins-Miller says 59% of the graduating class took the test and it is one of the indicators that are used to see how well students are achieving. She says graduation rates and the SAT and ITBS test scores are other things they look at to determine overall student achievement. Iowa students had a composite average of 22.4, second only to Minnesota’s 22.7.
Watkins-Miller says another positive in the results is the increase in scores for African-American students. Watkins-Miller says it’s important that the subgroups of students are progressing, and she says African-American students who took the ACT improved their composite score from 17.8 in 2008 to 18.3 in 2009.
She says the number of African-Americans who took the test also increased. Watkins-Miller says more students are reporting that they’re taking at least three years each of math, science and social studies and four years of English in high school.
The department increased standards so all students must complete those core courses and she says that should show up on the ACT reports for the class of 2011. Watkins-Miller says the is important because students who take the core courses often do better on the ACT. The best score you can get on the ACT is 36 — and the national average score on the ACT was 21.1.