Iowa ACT scores still among nation's best

Iowa high school graduates continue to buck the average ACT score national trend.

According to ACT's annual graduating class report, released Wednesday, the average composite score for Iowa students who graduated this year was 22.4 - 1.3 points higher than the national average.

Fifty-nine percent of the Iowa's graduating seniors took the exam last year. Iowa placed second among the states that had at least half their graduates taking the test, followed by Wisconsin. Minnesota took first place with a 22.7 average.

Minnesota and Iowa had the one-two lineup last year, too.

“The good news is that Iowa is performing very well as a state,” said Ed Colby, ACT spokesman. “Its scores are above the national average and higher than most states with comparable number of students taking the test.”

Still, he added, more than 70 percent of this year's graduating seniors failed to meet all four of ACT's College Readiness Bench marks.

Only 29 percent of the 22,377 Iowa graduates who took the ACT met a benchmark score that indicates readiness in a range of introductory core college courses. Nationally, 23 percent of the nearly 1.5 million students tested met all four bench marks.

Colby said the results underscore the need for school districts and states to focus their attention on the knowledge and skills needed for college and career readiness by all students.

State and national trends show that students who took a core curriculum in high school - four or more years of English and three or more years each of math, social studies and science - scored higher on the ACT than students who did not.

“That's consistent throughout all different groups of students,” Colby said. “Boys and girls, and all minorities.

Iowa's African-American students had an 18.3 average composite score, up from last year's 17.8. Hispanic students had a slight decrease from 20.1 in 2008 to 19.9 this year, as did American Indian students, falling from 20.9 in 2008 to 20.2 in 2009.

Caucasian students' average composite score was 22.6, slightly higher than 22.5 the year before.

The average composite score for Asian-Americans/Pacific Islanders remained unchanged at 22.7

ACT scores range from 1 to 36 and cover math, science, English and reading. Colleges and universities nationwide use them to help determine admissions, scholarships and academic advising.