ACT report: College readiness remains flat among low-income students

The percentage of low-income students who met college-readiness benchmarks on the ACT exam last year remained flat from the year before, according to a report released this week by ACT Inc. and a national education group.

The report includes data from students nationwide in the high school graduating class of 2014 who took the ACT exam. It was released Monday by ACT Inc., the Iowa City-based testing company, and the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships.

Among students who reported that their family's income is less than $36,000 per year, the percentages of students who met college readiness benchmarks either remained flat or fell slightly compared with those for the class of 2013.

Specifically, 45 percent of low-income students in the class of 2014 met the benchmarks in English, 26 percent in reading, 23 percent in math, 18 percent in science and 11 percent in all four subjects. Those meeting the benchmarks in 2013 were 45 percent for English, 27 percent for reading, 24 percent for math, 18 percent for science and 11 percent for all four subjects.

The percentages of low-income students meeting the benchmarks were also lower than those for all students in the class of 2014, usually by 15 to 20 percentage points. And students who came from higher-income families consistently performed better than their lower-income peers.

The benchmark scores represent what students need to have a 75 percent chance of earning a C or higher, or a 50 percent chance of earning a B or higher, in first-year college courses in those subjects, according to the report.

The report's findings are not surprising, said Steve Kappler, ACT's vice president of brand experience, who oversaw its creation.

Students who come from low-income families often do not have as much access to quality education, Kappler said. Low-income parents also might not instill the value of education in their children as often, he said.

'Conversations about college, for example, become more difficult if I never went to college,” Kappler said.

To address the achievement gap between low- and high-income students, Kappler said, schools should make sure students are taking 'core courses” - four years of English and three years each of math, social studies and science.

Low-income students who took those courses, or more than those, performed better across all subjects than those who did not, according to the report.

'It is really important to take the right coursework, especially as you look at the fact that so many of these students have postsecondary aspirations,” Kappler said. 'They want to go to college.”

Students also perform better when they find a college major or occupation that interests them, Kappler said, and students older than 13 can take a free online survey to help them determine those interests.

About 434,000 low-income students nationwide from the class of 2014 took the ACT, according to the report. State-level data was not available, Kappler said.