By Maureen Vander Sanden
Editor
Participation remains steady, but for a second year in a row, Elkhorn students who took the ACT college admissions test last year, scored below the state average.
The slight dip from a 21.8 average composite ACT score in 2010-11 to 21 in 2011-12, in part, prompted Elkhorn Area High School Principal Tina Bosworth, who presented the results to the School Board Monday, to get to work with her staffers in identifying ways to better prepare students for the exam.
“That’s where improving ACTs came in as part of our goals presented…” she said, referencing the Sept. 24 meeting when administrators district wide presented their annual goals to the board.
In addition to brainstorming more opportunities for practice testing, Bosworth said teachers took the practice test themselves, to get “a good refresher” of what students are experiencing.
One hundred and sixty-six students from last year’s graduating class took the region’s largest exam that is said to reflect students’ college preparedness.
According to the results released Aug. 22, in English, students scored on average, 19.8, down from last year’s 20.9, and below the state’s average of 21.5.
According to ACT, students who earn a composite score of 18 demonstrate college readiness in English composition. In Elkhorn, 68 percent of the students tested scored at or above that benchmark.
In mathematics, Elkhorn students scored 20.6, down from the Class of 2011’s 21.2. The average state composite score was 22. Students who scored 22 or higher, according to ACT, are ready for college-level algebra. Forty-two percent of Elkhorn students met that benchmark.
In reading, students scored on average, 21.3, down from the previous year’s 22.6. Statewide, students averaged a 22.1. ACT reports that students who record a 21 or higher on the exam in reading, are best prepared for college-level social science. Fifty-seven percent of students in Elkhorn tested met that benchmark, according to the report.
The final subject area tested, science, also saw a small decrease in Elkhorn graduate’s average score.
Locally students recorded a 21.6 average, next to the state’s 22.1 Students who graduated in 2011 averaged 21.8 in science. Students who score at or above a 24 on the science portion of the test, according to ACT, are ready for college-level coursework in biology. Thirty percent of the students tested last year met the benchmark, according to the report.
District Administrator Greg Wescott said that with more students than ever participating in the national standardized exam, it is not unlikely that the district will see scores decline a little.
“A number of students are taking (the test) that many would have not taken years ago,” he said.
In the last five years, the district has seen a climb in test takers, up 23 students from the 138 who took the ACT in 2008.
Wescott and Bosworth agreed that although there are a number of factors in the slipping scores, the results provide opportunities for improvement.
The test, Wescott says, force officials to ask: “Where are some holes in our curriculum that can be filled to make our students better prepared.”
“It does lead us to make different choices on our curriculum as a district,” he added.
While ACT results declined slightly, Bosworth reported that students who took advanced placement (AP) classes in 2011-12 have recorded “pretty consistent (scores) across the board.”
In 2011-12, 246 AP exams were taken by 135 students enrolled in the college-level courses offered at the high school.
Of those exams, 91 students, or 67.4 percent, earned scores of a 3 or above, a requirement to potentially receive college credit prior to enrollment.
In the 2010-11 school year, 110 AP students took 219 exams, with 73 tests, or 66.4 percent earning a 3 or higher.
Statewide, 55,450 exams were taken, up from 51,636 the year prior. Just more than 70 percent scored a 3 or higher, slightly up from the 69.9 percent of those who scored 3 or better in 2011.
In Elkhorn, the high school offers more than 20 AP courses – from biology to studio art.
Bosworth reported that nine students who tested last year were classified as AP Scholars for scoring 3 or higher in 3 different exams.
Four students she said, were named AP Scholar with honors for receiving an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and scores of 3 or higher in four or more exams.
Five students who tested last year were designated AP Scholars with Distinction, for earning an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher in five or more exams.
“That’s quite an accomplishment for our school,” Bosworth said, “it’s pretty impressive.
