Wisconsin Students Outscore Nation on ACT
But results also reveal state’s achievement gap,
discrepancies in college preparedness

(posted 8/15/08)

While national scores dropped slightly, Wisconsin students maintained their tradition of outscoring their peers in other states on the ACT college admissions test. However, the state’s achievement gap and the college readiness of our state’s students were also highlighted by the test results.Wisconsin students averaged a score of 22.3 on the test, while the national composite score dropped one-tenth of a point to 21.1. According to the Department of Public Instruction, 67 percent of Wisconsin’s high school graduates took the ACT test at some time during high school. Nationally, 48 percent of graduates took the ACT.

The state’s composite score also ranked very high compared to the 26 other states that use the ACT test.Only Minnesota and Iowa scored higher than Wisconsin.

Breaking the test down, Wisconsin students averaged a 21.7 on the English portion of the test, 22.3 on math, 22.6 on reading and 22.3 on science.Wisconsin students scored higher than the national average in each of these areas.

However, not all was good news for Wisconsin students. Among the state’s race and ethnic groups, African Americans scored the lowest, averaging 17.0 on the test. Meanwhile, the state’s white students scored the highest of all race and ethnic groups with an average score of 22.8.

The state’s American Indian and Hispanic students scored higher than the national averages for their respective ethnic and race groups. Wisconsin’s American Indians averaged 20.4, while the national composite score was 19.0. Likewise, the state’s Hispanic students scored 19.7 and the national average for Hispanic students was 18.7.

While, Wisconsin students’ scores were above the national averages, many of the state’s students were still below college benchmark levels.ACT has established benchmark levels to determine college readiness of students. For instance, students who earn an 18 or higher in English are predicted to have a 75 percent chance of earning a C in college-level English.

While 77 percent of the state’s students hit the benchmark for English, only 54 percent of students achieved the math benchmark score of 22. A total of 61 percent of the state’s students achieved the benchmark score of 21 for the reading test. And only 38 percent of Wisconsin students hit the science benchmark score of 24, highlighting the need for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and other 21st century skills initiatives.

ACT Web site