Time to ACT

Less than one-quarter of graduating seniors are college ready, according to results released by ACT this week. ACT sets benchmarks on the four sections of their tests - English, mathematics, reading and science - that students need to meet to have an estimated 50 percent  chance of earning a B or higher, or a 75 percent chance of earning a C or higher, in a credit-bearing, entry-level college course. The large numbers failing to meet this standard help explain both the high postsecondary remediation rates (nearly 30 percent nationwide), and the high attrition rate for students in their first year of college (25 percent of students at four-year institutions fail to return for their sophomore year, a number that grows to 47 percent for students at two-year institutions).

ACT’s report underscores the importance of a rigorous curriculum. On the whole, students who took a core curriculum (4 years of English, and three years each of math, science and social science) scored an average 22 composite score on the ACT, while students who took less scored an average of 19.1. And students who took courses beyond the core scored even stronger. Over half of students taking beyond Algebra II were ready for college algebra, while only seven percent of those taking less than Algebra II were. Thirty-nine percent of students taking biology, chemistry, physics and a general science (such as Earth Science) were ready for college biology, but only 11 percent of those taking less than three years of science were. 

Given the growing body of research suggesting that the greatest predictor of success in college is a rigorous high school curriculum, these new results reinforce  the need for all states to require  college- and career-ready graduation requirements for all kids. Currently, only 19 states and the District of Columbia have graduation requirements at the college- and career-ready level. Data comparisons and individual state reports are available. Of particular note is the ability to track the progress of a state or the nation as a whole over time.