Cape, Jackson students do well on ACT

Cape Girardeau and Jackson high school graduates from the class of 2006 are better prepared for college classes than their fellow graduates statewide and even nationally, ACT test scores show.

Students at Cape Girardeau Central High School had an average composite score of 23.5, the highest it's been in 11 years, said principal Dr. Mike Cowan.

"We had a very good senior class last year," he said. "It is also a tribute to our instructional program. We really have pushed the ACT prep courses."

The testing service reported that the average composite score nationwide is 21.1, up from 20.9 last year. The average score reached its highest level since 1991. A perfect score is 36.

The composite score for Jackson High School graduates was 22.3, down slightly from a year ago. But Jackson graduates still fared better than most high school graduates in Missouri and nationwide regarding college readiness.

Statewide, the average composite score for 2006 graduates was 21.6.

Students at two local parochial high schools -- Notre Dame Regional High School and Saxony Lutheran High School -- also scored higher on average than high school graduates nationally and statewide.

Notre Dame students had an average composite score of 25.3, up from 25.1 the previous year. Saxony Lutheran students had an average score of 23.2.

Scott City High School's graduating class fared below the national and state averages on combined English, mathematics, reading and science test scores. Scott City students had an average score of 20.7.

The latest scores are based on more than 1.2 million 2006 public and private school graduates nationwide -- a record number -- who took the ACT at some point during their high school career.

ACT scores are used in admission to many four-year colleges, particularly in the Midwest. Students' scores are a big factor in the amount of scholarship money they can obtain.

Many students take the ACT more than once in an effort to better their scores. "If you get a 24 or 25 on the ACT that could mean thousands of dollars in scholarships," said Saxony Lutheran principal Craig Ernstmeyer.

While test scores are up nationwide, the testing service says the majority of ACT-tested graduates are still likely to struggle in first-year college math and science courses.

Only 42 percent of those graduates are college-ready in math and only 27 percent in biology ACT officials said.

Only two in 10 met or exceeded college-readiness benchmark scores on all four ACT exams.

But locally students fared much better.

Thirty-eight percent of Cape Central High School 2006 graduates showed they were college-ready in all four subjects: English, math, social science (reading) and biology, the ACT reported.

But students Cape Central and other local high school schools scored worse on the science test than they did in English, math and reading.

The ACT said only 44 percent of Cape Central graduates, 43 percent of Saxony Lutheran students, 39 percent of Notre Dame students and 36 percent of Jackson students were ready for college biology. Only 16 percent of Scott City High School graduates who took the ACT exam were ready for college biology, the testing service said.

Local school officials say those figures reflect that the science exam tests students on science reasoning rather than on science facts.

"It is not a core subject kind of thing, and I think that is what skews the test," said Jackson High School principal Rick McClard.

He said the ACT science test is focused more on critical thinking. "The ability to think does not necessarily correspond to this basic recall knowledge," he said.

That makes it harder to prepare for the exam, area school officials said.

ACT officials said black students nationwide fared the poorest on the science exam with only 5 percent showing they were ready for college science. That was the lowest percentage of any racial or ethnic group.

Nita DuBose, who teaches math and physics at Cape Central High School, said students who take only the "easy classes" don't score as well on ACT exams as those who take tougher academic courses.

But the ACT science exam can prove difficult even for good students, she said.

"You are not tested on knowledge," she said. "You are tested on how you can reason through the material presented."

DuBose, who previously taught an ACT prep class at Central High School, said students' need good reading skills to do well on the test.

ACT officials say their research shows that students need to score a 24 or higher on the science exam to be ready for college biology.

That's a higher benchmark than that used on the other three ACT tests. Saxony Lutheran's Ernstmeyer said the higher the benchmark, the lower the percentage of students who meet it.

Scott City High School principal Kerry Thompson isn't satisfied with ACT test scores at his school. "Our goal is to get above the state average, but we are not quite there," he said.

Statewide, only 24 percent of ACT test takers are college-ready in all four subject areas: English, math, social science and biology. Among Scott City graduates, it's only 14 percent.

Little more than half of Scott City's 70-member graduating class of 2006 took ACT exams. That's in sharp contrast to the graduating classes at Cape Central, Jackson, Notre Dame and Saxony Lutheran where the vast majority of seniors took the ACT.

Thompson credits the disparity to the fact that many of Scott City's graduates don't plan to enroll in four-year colleges where ACT scores are essential for admission.

"A lot of students in our area are going into the work force right out of high school. Some are going to a vo-tech school or going to junior college," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123

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Composite scores

Average ACT scores for 2006 area high school graduates

* Notre Dame: 25.3

* Cape Central: 23.5

* Saxony Lutheran: 23.2

* Jackson: 22.3

* Scott City: 20.7

* Statewide: 21.6

* Nationwide: 21.1

* English, math, reading and science test scores combined