The Mississippi Department of Education issued the following press release.
ACT Scores for 2017 Graduates Increase, Junior Scores Dip
JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Education released today ACT results for the 2017 graduating class, which made gains, and the spring 2017 test administration for juniors, which showed a decline.
The average composite score among the graduating class increased from 18.4 in 2016 to 18.6 in 2017, and the average score among juniors decreased from 18.3 in 2016 to 18 in 2017.
The percentage of graduates meeting the benchmark scores for all four tested subjects increased from 11 percent in 2016 to 12 percent in 2017, and the percentage decreased among juniors from 11 percent to 10 percent.
There was a 5 percent increase in the number of juniors taking the ACT in 2017, while the number of test takers in the graduating class increased 1 percent.
The graduating class saw scores increase in all four ACT subjects of English, math, reading and science. The majority of student subgroups showed improvement. In addition, an analysis by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) found that Mississippi was one of three southern states where the achievement gap narrowed between African-American and white students.
“ACT scores among graduates are rising as more students take advantage of advanced coursework opportunities. Also, testing students in their junior year helps teachers identify students who need further support to help them achieve higher scores before they graduate,” said Dr. Carey Wright, state superintendent of education.
Starting in the 2018-19 school year, all districts will be required to offer specialized literacy and math courses designed for seniors whose junior-year ACT benchmark scores fell between 15 and 18. The courses are called the Essentials for College Literacy and the Essentials for College Math, and some districts started offering the courses in 2016. The courses were developed specifically to help close the readiness gap for students who are on the cusp of meeting the ACT benchmark scores. The courses focus on the skills students must have to succeed in the workplace or college.
ACT research has also shown that taking certain specific courses in high school substantially increases students’ readiness for college level work as well as their readiness for workforce training programs.
Among the 36,026 2017 graduates who took the ACT, students who took four or more years of English and three or more years each of math, social studies and science outperformed their peers who reported taking fewer courses in these subjects. The average composite score among students who completed more than the required core courses was 19.7, compared to 17.4 for students who took fewer courses.
ACT is a curriculum-based assessment designed to measure the skills high school teachers teach and what instructors of entry-level college courses expect.
An ACT benchmark score is the minimum score needed on an ACT subject-area test to indicate a 50 percent chance of obtaining a B or higher or about a 75 percent chance of obtaining a C or higher in the corresponding credit-bearing college courses, which include English Composition, Algebra, Social Science and Biology.
The Mississippi Department of Education will continue to offer districts training related to analyzing ACT data, evaluating course taking patterns and designing ACT preparation courses.
View the ACT score report for 2017 graduates here.
27 comments:
JPS average composite is 15.5. Stellar!
How many of them are taking the test at OM approved sites?
What a joke. Embarrassing. Not even a 19! Man, this is one STUPID state!
As a parent of a graduate of the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science I am glad to see them leading the sate with an average score of a 29. All the while facing year after year of budget cuts and lack of funding from the state, sound familiar? Instead of complaining they pulled together and continued on their mission of education our future leaders.
Congratulations MSMS.
I should correct my spelling from my previous post. It should read "educating" not "education", autocorrect and predictive typing get me every time 😁
15 1/2 won't even get you into Jackson State.
Jackson State University shrank 12.5 percent, the most among the universities.
Jackson is LOST.
@7:42
While scrolling through the scores I noticed MSMS had the highest score by a wide margin. You made the point I was going to make. So many people, mainly democrats, holler louder and louder each year that more dollars to the schools will lead to higher scores. The results from MSMS prove the MAEP will do nothing but waste more tax dollars. Under performing systems around the state need to model themselves after MSMS, not only on their education processes but also on how to do more with less. If more tax dollars are to be spent let them go to MSMS so they can expand what they are doing.
@9:27
Let me preface my comment by saying that I am an alumnus, former employee, and strong supporter of MSMS.
You cannot compare what MSMS is doing to what other school districts are doing. A fairer comparison would be to compare MSMS scores to gifted students from each district. Regular districts have to deal with the full range of kids and have to provide services ranging from the most severely mentally disabled to the most gifted. MSMS only takes the best.
I don't know what the current situation is, but when I was there, the faculty at MSMS were paid significantly higher salaries than the average Mississippi teacher. The kids at MSMS don't have to be there, they want to be there. This leads to an exceptional classroom environment. Exceptional students in an exceptional environment with exceptional pay makes it easy to recruit an exceptional faculty.
Districts have to deal with kids who don't want to be there. When you combine this with low pay, it makes it harder to recruit and retain the good teachers. For instance, I know a great teacher who left the classroom to become a Chick Fil A manager because the pay was much higher and the stress was much less.
MSMS is a great school, doing great work, and desperately needs more funding, but please don't draw conclusions about MAEP and district performance based on the exceptional institution of The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science.
True. But JPS looooooooooves to compare its magnet schools to regular schools all the time.
9:27 here
I understand what you are saying. I had a friend that had a son attend MSMS when it was first started. I know it is not a typical school with typical students. The fact remains that they have done a wonderful job while enduing budget cuts through the years. I still contend that throwing more and more dollars alone at failing schools will do nothing to correct the problems they have. The desire to learn is imperative and without parental guidance and encouragement I'm afraid the status quo will remain. I do appreciate your insight.
By the way, I am not sold on the fact that the MDE takeover of JPS will solve the majority of the problems there. Let's do hope that I am wrong.
First, let me say I generally like the MSMS model. Talented, hard-working kids in bad schools deserve a chance to get better instruction without constant distractions.
But comparing regular public high schools to MSMS is like comparing high school football teams to MSU or Ole Miss. The former must take whatever comes in the door; the latter recruit only the most talented.
Plus, most MSMS students I know were making 30ish ACT scores before they arrived there, so a 29 average is really not much of a testament to what is taught there.
If you have data comparing MSMS to other, similar talent-magnet schools, that might tell us something. How does it stack up to the Bronx High School of Science, for example?
Got news for everyone.....hot off the press from in the trenches of K-12 and higher education: Only a small amount of academic "progress" or "achievement" is happening, because it is VASTLY overshadowed by the lack of character and discipline. Ask any faculty member in any district. The entitlement and disrespect for authority is pervasive among an entire generation, and the large bulk of them believe all they have to do is show up.
7:21PM I am offended by your small minded, self-defeating comment. Congratulations to the high school students in public schools in this state and the men and women working harder to win our collective future. Great job on improving ACT scores while THE REST OF THE COUNTRY has declining scores.
Source: http://www.act.org/content/act/en/newsroom/act-scores-down-for-2016-us-grad-class-due-to-increased-percentage-of-students-tested.html
I predict the Juniors next year will also drop in ACT scoring and it will not be due to another 1K students in the survey. It will be due to a very poor transition to the digitization of the classroom. Districts are moving to online studies and assignments. Lessons are taught in Power Point presentations and not text. Power Points are highlights and not details! Assignments, Test and Calendars are all pushed through Canvas in Rankin County. There is NO consistency between teachers on where they post within Canvas. If it was a corporation looking for click through stats on websites it would be a fail! Students have to click click click click click just to figure out what is due and how to do it. Then you always have the one click in a browser window to YouTube which is left unblocked for teachers to have creative license in the classroom and your student is off to hours of wasted time!!!
A 20 on the ACT is average.
A 22 would be a below average score for the U. of Alabama.
Duke and other schools in that ranking require a 29.
I realize that not all students are college bound and surely MS isn't wasting money to pay for ACT testing for every student. So, I would hope we could assume that those being tested hope to be college bound.
These measures are meaningless unless you know the average IQ and GPA of the student population taking the ACT in that district. Even then, comparing them separately would give a better picture of the school's actual performance. Just as cream rises to the top, so will exceptional children. What you want to know is if average and above average children are performing at the expected level.
Only 4 schools in the entire state hit above average? Kudos to the math and science school but it shouldn't be in the list as it skews the over all results as it is a school for exceptional children.
I suspect this list says more about the entire system and curriculum than it does about district and school performance. And, sadly, I don't expect the private schools to average as well as the school for math and science and quite of few will not be better than 22.
Much truth 8:16, much truth.
Similar experience in Madison County.
Give it a 4-5 years and ACT Reading scores will plummet.
ACT Science -- since so much of the test is reading -- will follow close behind.
Thank goodness mine are almost out and have the right foundation to not suffer.
But 24 school districts' composite scores are lower than JPS
2017 nationwide ACT composite average is 21.
My 12 year old daughter made a score of 23 last year
@9:27, based on the 2016-2017 legislative appropriation for MSMS (separate from MAEP) & MSMS enrollment for that same year, the state funded MSMS 3x. And, yes, these students were already making high ACT scores - that's a given.
Signed, a Republican Pro-Education Supporter
ACT scores do not accurately predict the future of a student throughout higher education and the future success of many high school students. My child's score on the ACT in 1979 was "17". Throughout Jr. College, Mississippi State and The University of Alabama Pharmacy Program, she graduated with GPA's of 3.9, 4.0 and 3.8. respectively. I might add that she was diagnosed with Dyslexia in the summer prior to her freshman year and attended a year of therapy. Therefore 7:21AM, maybe this is not such a "STUPID STATE"!
Perhaps you are really not as "SPUPID" as you appear; maybe just prone to knee jerk reactions. IMHO
1:53-
Hahahha. You got mad because some told the truth about how poor this state performs on the ACT?
If my kid got a "17" I'd keep it to myself.
Personally, I'd like to know how a kid gets into Alabama with a "17". Oh, that's right, community college. The 13th and 14th grade.
5:55pm
It appears that there is truth behind 1:53. My kid also had a learning disability and after making a 19 ACT score, i.e. "Fill in the circles", is now a successful physician in New York. Also a C.C. graduate. We saved a good deal of $. BTW, it paid back quite well.
Fun Fact: Every single one of the entering freshmen accepted in Vanderbilt's Engineering School last month scored a 36 on his/her ACT.
Every last one of them.
Elite schools look at things differently than some people realize.
1:53 the sad part about your story is it took that long for anyone to notice your child had a problem. It should have been noticed early in her schooling.
Every single one of the entering freshmen accepted in Vanderbilt's Engineering School last month scored a 36 on his/her ACT.
Link?
Ain't no link!
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