Grads scoring barely higher on college test
Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/234122/
While Arkansas high school graduates in 2008 saw a slight increase in their ACT scores, a large portion of those students failed to meet college readiness standards set by the testing organization.
More than 70 percent of Arkansas test takers reported taking the ACT’s recommended core curriculum of science, math, English and reading, but just 17 percent met college readiness benchmarks on all four areas of the exam, compared to 22 percent nationwide.
The average composite score for Arkansas’ 22, 545 graduates who took the ACT was 20. 6, up 0. 1 point from 2007, but still below the national average of 21. 1, according to scores due for release today by the American College Testing Board, makers of the standardized college entrance exam.
Arkansas’ class of 2008 outperformed the national average on the English portion of the exam, scoring a 20. 7, compared to a national average of 20. 6. But the state fell behind the national average by less than a point in math, reading and science.
“I’m pleased that our composite score increased, and I’m glad to see we’re above the national average in English,” Education Commissioner Ken James said. “But any good news is permeated by the fact that we still have more work to do.”
James tied the slight increase in composite scores to increased enrollment in core curriculum classes.
The Class of 2010 is the first class that must complete the state-mandated “Smart Core” curriculum to graduate. Only those students who have signed parental permission forms to take an easier course load will be exempted from the higher level requirements.
The Smart Core consists of four units of math, four units of English, three units of science, three units of social studies, six units in a career-focus series of classes, and courses in health, physical education, oral communication and fine arts.
Most college-bound high school students in Arkansas take the ACT, which many of the state’s colleges and universities require for admission. The other nationally prominent, undergraduate admission exam, the Educational Testing Service’s SAT, also is offered statewide.
In a telephone news conference, an ACT administrator said that states with low levels of graduates meeting college readiness standards may need to offer a more rigorous core curriculum to produce successful college students.
Rather than focusing on composite numbers, educational leaders should test their methods against the test’s standards, said Cyndie Schmeiser, president of the ACT’s education division.
“We’re still seeing a lot of evidence that the core courses they’re taking aren’t rigorous enough,” she said.
ACT regularly updates a list of college readiness benchmarks or “cut score,” a mark in a subject that indicates a 75 percent chance of scoring a C or higher in a college-level class.
In Arkansas, 70 percent of students met the cut score of 18 in English, compared to 68 percent nationally; 35 percent of students met the cut score of 22 in math, compared to 43 percent nationally; 49 percent of students met the cut score of 21 in reading, compared to 53 percent nationally; and 22 percent of students met the cut score of 24 in science, compared to 28 percent nationally.
Using the testing company’s measures, only 17 percent of the state’s test takers could earn C grades or higher in all four college subject areas correlating with the test.
But the state’s own predictors of college success are lower than most of the cut scores, James said.
Arkansas Code 6-15-10, passed in 1987, requires students to take noncredit remedial courses if they score below a 19 on the English, reading or math sections of the ACT. Some of the state’s universities, such as the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, set higher standards.
Fifty-three percent of 2007 freshmen required some remediation in college, James said.
Remediation rates are high despite high core curriculum participation, a sign not that the course work is inadequate, but that it may be taught to inconsistent standards throughout the state, James said.
“We’ve got to ask ‘Is the curriculum the same in every place ?’ Our hope and our goal is that we’re getting there,” he said.
There is a correlation between college preparation and retention and graduation rates, he said. While the state’s college admission rates are on par with national averages, Arkansas ranks 49 th in the nation in the number of high school graduates who go on to obtain bachelor’s degrees, at 18 percent. Only West Virginia is lower.
The legislative Task Force on Higher Education Remediation, Retention and Graduation Rates will present recommendations later this month, which may include making the core curriculum mandatory or offering incentives to districts that lower the number of students who opt out, said Dale Ellis, spokesman for the state’s Department of Higher Education.
Fourteen percent of students opt out of the course list.
“Students that take the core curriculum tend to score higher,” Ellis said. “By eliminating the opt-out provision, we’ll see those ACT scores go up.”
James said ACT scores will improve as the state strengthens core curriculum, encourages enrollment and helps students take the test multiple times to ensure better performance.
Schools can use state grants to pay for low-income students to take the ACT. Sixty-one districts have signed up for the program.
Arkansas’ minority students outperformed their peers across the country. The state’s average composite score for black students was 17, compared to a national average of 16. 9. The average score for Hispanic students was 19. 1, compared to 18. 7 nationwide.
In Arkansas, 5. 3 percent more 2008 graduates took the test than 2007 graduates. Nationally, 1. 42 million students took the test in 2008, up 9 percent.
Ellis said it’s encouraging to see more students taking college entrance exams, a sign that Arkansas teens are more interested in post-secondary education.
“But it goes without saying that we would like to see a higher percentage of students scoring at the cut score or above,” he said. “If they’re not prepared for college level work, they’re going to have a much more difficult time.”
To contact this reporter: eblad@arkansasonline. com