2006 graduates earn best ACT scores since 1991

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, August 15, 2006

The high school class of 2006 posted the biggest score increase on the ACT college entrance exam in 20 years, and recorded the highest scores of any class since 1991.

Average composite scores on the exam, which measures students’ readiness for college-level work, rose to 21.1 from 20.9 last year. Both boys and girls posted gains, as did all racial groups except Hispanics, whose scores held steady. ACT scores range from 1 to 36.

Officials at the independent, nonprofit ACT said an increase of 0.2 points is significant when considered across a record 1.2 million test-takers nationwide, or 40 percent of graduating seniors.

Some of the improvement may come from the ACT’s growing popularity among high-achieving students in states where the rival SAT exam has traditionally been more popular. The ACT is more attractive to some students because it focuses more on material covered in high school classes than on general ability.

ACT officials said the numbers are encouraging but still show too few students are prepared for college-level work. Only 21 percent of test-takers scored the benchmark indicating they are likely to succeed in college on each of the four exams – math, English, reading and science. More than two-thirds hit the benchmark score in English, but barely one-quarter did in science.

Average scores for black students rose 0.1 points to 17.1, while Hispanics’ scores were steady at 18.6. Significant racial gaps persist: Whites scored 22.0 on average and Asian-Americans 22.3.

The average score for boys rose 0.1 percent to 21.2, while girls’ scores rose 0.1 to 21.0.

The ACT also released the first results from a new optional essay section, launched in February 2005. About 36 percent of test-takers completed the essay portion and they scored on average 7.2 on a scale of 2 to 12. Girls outscored boys by half a point.