With numerous changes being made this year in the area of high school graduation requirements for Kentucky students, the release of American College Testing (ACT) scores adds weight to the question, “Are our students ready for college?”
According to the state-level data released by ACT, the percentage of Kentucky public high school graduates meeting the state’s college readiness benchmarks on the ACT college-entrance exam in English, mathematics and reading saw an incremental increase.
“We are pleased with the increases in ACT scores for the Kentucky class of 2018. Even these modest increases are undoubtedly the result of lots of hard work on the part of students, educators, and parents,” said Kentucky Education Commissioner Wayne Lewis.
Lewis later said that there were continued “significant disparities” between the performance of student groups by race and ethnicity which he feels need to become “a top education priority for our state.”
The state benchmarks represent the minimum scores that guarantee students entry into corresponding credit-bearing courses at Kentucky colleges and universities without the need for developmental education or supplemental courses.
Below are the results for Daviess County Public Schools, Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Owensboro and Owensboro Public Schools.
ACT summary scores for Daviess County Public Schools
| English | Math | Reading | Science | Composite | |
| AHS | 19.9 | 20.3 | 21.0 | 20.3 | 20.5 |
| DCHS | 21.5 | 20.5 | 22.1 | 21.2 | 21.5 |
| District | 20.3 | 20.1 | 21.1 | 20.5 | 20.6 |
DCPS superintendent Matt Robbins said he was pleased to see the district maintain their scores from last year where they “saw a remarkable 0.8 increase in the composite score” and he was grateful they were able to maintain the same level of results this year.
As far as instructional focus and test preparation, Robbins said DCPS has taken more of a standards-based approach.
“Our instruction is focused on the standards and far less on test prep,” Robbins said. “It is our belief that test prep does not produce steady and sustained growth over a longer period of time for our students.”
Diocese of Owensboro ACT scores for students that will graduate in 2018
| School | English | Math | Reading | Science | Composite |
| Trinity HS | 22.8 | 21.1 | 24.0 | 21.3 | 22.4 |
| OCHS | 23.5 | 21.0 | 23.7 | 22.5 | 22.8 |
Ann Flaherty, Superintendent for the Diocese of Owensboro, attributed their scores to the vertical alignment practiced throughout K-12 in the Catholic school system.
“Our Catholic high schools understand that this is the college admission exam of choice in this region of the United States. Our high schools have worked hard to align their curriculum to ACT standards. Our feeder elementary and middle schools have vertically aligned their content standards to support the high school standards,” Flaherty said. “Without the entire team of K-12 faculty working with the support of the parents, we could not achieve these scores. These scores will influence not only admission decisions but also scholarship decisions at universities.”
ACT summary scores for Owensboro Public Schools
| English | Math | Reading | Science | Composite | |
| OHS | 19.1 | 18.7 | 20.2 | 19.4 | 19.5 |
Owensboro Innovation Academy will not graduate its first class until 2019, therefore their scores are not reflected in this data.
When addressing the issue of classroom instruction as it relates to the ACT, Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Matthew Constant said there are multiple measures of success moving forward.
“To the extent possible, we align our instruction with the right standards and more often than not those standards are what ACT assesses,” Constant said. “We know the measuring stick and dashboard of success will always change. For OPS high schools, we want strong and rigorous teaching and learning in all classrooms all the time.”
Kentucky public high school graduates’ average ACT scores for 2018
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
| English | 19.1 | 19.2 | 19.2 | 19.4 |
| Mathematics | 19.3 | 19.1 | 19.1 | 19.4 |
| Reading | 20.0 | 20.2 | 20.2 | 20.4 |
| Science | 19.8 | 19.6 | 19.8 | 19.8 |
| Composite | 19.7 | 19.7 | 19.7 | 19.9 |
| Number taking test | 45,162 | 46,285 | 46,840 | 46,988 |
As to how much impact ACT scores will have, combined with the ever-changing high school requirements in preparation for college, Robbins said he does not foresee things changing in the near future.
“In addition to high school GPA and community involvement, colleges and universities continue to place a strong weight on the ACT/SAT exams,” Robbins said. “Thus, we must continue focusing our efforts to ensure our students are well prepared to perform well on the ACT.”
Robbins also spoke to the advice he would offer parents when questioning whether or not to continually make the financial investment to increase ACT scores through multiple attempts.
“A student needs to take the exam at least twice and likely three times,” Robbins said. “This is due to their content knowledge continuing to be increased each year and also their experience taking the exam helps students best perform as they become more comfortable with the format and how to best prepare themselves.”
All three district representatives were in agreement in advising multiple attempts be taken on the ACT in order to increase exposure to both the content and the format of testing.
“College admissions officers state that a student should take the ACT two to three times, as after three tries the percentage of scores increasing is low,” Flaherty said in agreement. “They recommend for the majority of students, taking the ACT second semester of their junior year and fall of their senior year due to the test being normed on those grade levels. A student will more likely achieve high scores by taking and completing successfully as many core courses as possible.”
After a short period period of uncertainty, ACT, Inc. has been selected as the college admissions exam vendor for 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, and can be renewed for an additional four years following. In agreement with Senate Bill 1 (2017), high school sophomores and juniors will now be required to take a college admissions exam such as the ACT. Local districts intend to continue making strides in an upward direction for all high school students making the transition to college or careers.
As far as how to address Commissioner Lewis’ concerns, Robbins said, “We will continue to analyze the student data and stratify the individual student results to plan and modify instruction to better serve the needs of ALL students.”
