Scores show FSHS students ready for more education
Fort Scott High School graduates are showing they are ready for college based on the results of students who took the ACT college entrance exam in 2014.
USD 234 Superintendent Bob Beckham, former principal at FSHS, said 63 students, about half of the FSHS class of 2014, took the ACT exam in 2014. The senior class totaled about 130 students. Across the state, 23,924 students took the ACT, which consists of curriculum-based tests of educational development in English, math, reading and science designed to measure the skills needed for success in first-year college coursework.
"Typically, we would test somewhere between a strong third and half of our kids," Beckham said.
According to results Beckham provided, average scores of FSHS students were 21.4 in English, 22.2 in math, 22.7 in reading and 21.7 in science. The state average scores in those subjects were 21.4, 21.7, 22.5 and 21.8, respectively, meaning FSHS scores were right at or slightly above the state average in all categories except science, which was just one-tenth of a point below the state average. Average composite scores were 22.1 for the district and 22 statewide.
"We have always been at or around the state average," Beckham said. "We were at or above in all categories except one last year. Our kids do very well on the ACT."
Beckham attributed the results to normal curriculum for the students as in past years there has been no ACT preparation offered for students.
"What's exciting about that (results) is that for the most part, it's just our regular curriculum being delivered to the students," he said. "There has not been a lot of emphasis on prep work for the ACT."
However, Beckham said this year a semester elective focused on ACT preparation will be available for FSHS students.
"I'm excited to see what that does to our scores," Beckham said. "It speaks highly of what our teachers have done."
In 2013, 56 FSHS students took the ACT with 24,268 students taking the test statewide. Average ACT scores for FSHS students in 2013 were 21.5 in English, 22 in math, 23.6 in reading and 21.8 in science. Average composite scores in 2013 were 22.3 locally and 21.8 statewide.
According to the data Beckham provided, 76 percent of FSHS students who took the ACT this year tested ready for college-level coursework in English composition compared to 72 percent statewide; 56 percent tested ready for college algebra compared to 50 percent statewide; 60 percent tested ready for social science compared to 51 percent statewide and 46 percent tested ready for college biology compared to 44 percent statewide.
Thirty-five percent of FSHS students tested as college-ready in all subjects, compared to 31 percent statewide, according to the data.
The data provided also showed five-year trends and average ACT scores for USD 234 and districts across the state since 2010.
ACT has established the following as college readiness benchmark scores for designated college courses: English composition, 18 on ACT English test, Algebra, 22 on ACT math test, Social Science, 22 on ACT reading test and Biology, 23 on ACT science test.
ACT research has shown that it is the rigor of coursework - rather than simply the number of core courses - that has the greatest impact on ACT performance and college readiness. Students who take a minimum of Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry typically achieve higher ACT math scores that students who take less than three years of math. In addition, students who take more advanced math courses substantially increase their ACT math score, according to the data.
Average math ACT scores by course sequence for FSHS students this year were at or above the statewide average. Average science ACT scores by course sequence for FSHS students this year were at or slightly below the state average. Students taking biology and chemistry in combination with physics typically achieve higher ACT science scores than students taking less than three years of science courses.
According to the report Beckham provided, schools and districts statewide should have action plans in place to ensure students are ready for college and work. The steps include: creating a common focus, establishing high expectations for all, requiring a rigorous curriculum, providing student counseling and measuring and evaluating progress.
A news release from the Kansas State Department of Education that 2014 ACT college readiness scores are on the rebound and that Kansas students outperformed the nation in all four assessment areas.
The percentage of Kansas high school graduates meeting college readiness benchmarks in all areas measured on the ACT college entrance exam increased for the fourth year in a row, and the average composite score recorded its largest increase since 2011.
Seventy-five percent of Kansas high school graduating seniors participated in the 2014 ACT test compared to 57 percent nationally. Of those students, 31 percent met college readiness benchmarks in English, reading, math and science, up from 30 percent in 2013, 29 percent in 2012 and 28 percent in 2011 and 2010, well ahead of the national average of 26 percent, the release said.
The ACT college readiness benchmarks represent scores that would indicate a level of preparation needed to have at least a 50 percent chance of achieving a grade of B or above in entry-level college coursework.
The percentage of 2014 Kansas graduating students taking the ACT who met college readiness benchmarks in English and Reading held steady from 2013 at 72 percent and 52 percent, respectively. The percentage of graduating students meeting college readiness benchmarks in Math declined for the second year in a row (50 percent in 2014 versus 51 percent in 2013 and 52 percent in 2012). Kansas once again experienced the most significant increase in the percentage of students reported to be meeting science benchmarks (44 percent in 2014 versus 42 percent in 2013 and 35 percent in 2012).
Kansas ACT scores remained the same in Math (21.7), but increased in English (21.4 in 2014 from 21.2 in 2013), Reading (22.5 in 2014 from 22.3 in 2013) and Science (21.8 in 2014 from 21.7 in 2013). ACT college readiness benchmark scores are: Math, 22; English, 18; Reading, 22: and Science, 23.
"We are pleased with the increased number of Kansas high school graduates now taking the ACT," Brad Neuenswander, interim education commissioner, said in the release. "This gives us a more complete picture of the college readiness of our students and helps inform state and local education decisions in Kansas. Our students continue to score ahead of the national average and our goal is to continue to increase the number of children meeting and exceeding established benchmarks."
Overall, the average composite score in the state was 22, up two-tenths of a percent from 21.8 in 2013. The national composite score increased to 21 in 2014 from 20.9 in 2013.
In comparing Kansas' 2014 ACT college readiness scores with those states that also have 75 percent or more of its graduating high school students taking the ACT exam, Kansas' average composite score of 22 ranked second highest. Minnesota reported a composite score of 22.9 and South Dakota reported a composite score of 21.9, the release said.
Results of the 2014 ACT exam continue to demonstrate the importance of taking core coursework in high school. Core coursework includes four years of English and three years each of math, science and social studies. Statistics show that students who complete core coursework consistently score higher on all areas of the ACT exam than students who do not complete core coursework. In Kansas, 80 percent of the 2014 graduates who took the ACT exam completed core or more coursework in high school and their average composite score was 22.7; 3.3 percentage points higher than those students who had not taken core coursework and .7 percentage points higher than the average composite score for all Kansas graduates taking the exam, the release said.
More information about Kansas students' performance on the ACT exam is available online at www.act.org.