ACT scores on the rise as Georgia leaps three spots in national rankings

ATLANTA – Georgia's ACT scores continued to rise in 2008, even as the national average dropped, according to results released today. Georgia's national ranking increased to 41^st, up from 44^th last year and from 47^th in 2002.

“This is yet another example of the positive momentum in Georgia's schools as teachers, students and parents are working hard to improve student achievement and performance,” Governor Perdue said.

Georgia's composite ACT score rose to 20.6 in 2008, up from 20.3 in 2007. The national average dropped to 21.1, down .1 from 2007.  Georgia's scores also increased in every subject area tested by the ACT – English, Reading, Mathematics and Science.

Additionally, high school seniors in Georgia's three largest subgroups – Caucasian, African-American and Hispanic – outscored their peers across the nation.

In addition to the rising scores, participation rates in Georgia are also increasing. This year, 38 percent of our state’s graduating seniors took the ACT, up from 34 percent last year. In the past five years, the number of seniors taking the ACT has increased from 20,510 to 33,238.

“The 2008 ACT report is good news across the board,” said State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox. “In a year when the national average went down, Georgia saw improvement in all areas by all students. These increases are happening even as more and more Georgia students are taking the ACT. There is still work to be done, but we are making tremendous progress in a short period of time.”

The ACT is a curriculum-based achievement test designed to measure college readiness and preparation. The ACT includes four separate exams in English, reading, mathematics and science. There is also an optional writing portion. The exam is scored on a scale from 0 to 36.

In 2002, Georgia's average score was 19.8 compared to a national average of 20.8. Since then, Georgia’s scores have improved by 0.8 points to 20.6, while the national average has only improved 0.3 points to 21.1.

In 2008, Georgia's African-American students scored .5 points higher than black students across the nation and Georgia's Hispanic students scored 1.5 points higher than Hispanic students across the nation.

For the first time in recent history, Georgia's white students also outscored their peers across the nation.

“As is usually the case in Georgia, when you break down the numbers into subgroups, you get a truer picture of how we are doing as a state,” Superintendent Cox said. “Every subgroup is scoring above the national average and all boats are rising.”

As the state continues to implement the Georgia Performance Standards and new graduation requirements, Governor Perdue and Superintendent Cox are confident that additional rigor in coursework will continue to lead to improvements in achievement such as this year’s ACT scores.

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