According to report released today, Wisconsin’s average score on the ACT college entrance exam dropped below the national average in the first year that all graduating seniors took the test.
The national average is a 20.8 score and Wisconsin’s has dipped to an average of 20.5. The state score is down 1.7 points from last year ACT composite score of 22.2 when 73 percent of seniors took the exam.
Wisconsin’s 2016 score is ranked 29th among all states, but it is the fourth-highest among the 18 states where all graduates were tested and 11th highest among states where more than half of students took the test.
Wisconsin’s test scores had been among the highest, and above the national average, for years before a new state law that took effect in 2015 required all 11th graders to take the exam. Given that change, the scores were expected to drop.
“By setting a new course and administering the ACT to all high school juniors, we’re helping way more students consider further education after high school,” Superintendent Tony Evers said, explaining the change last fall.
The national college admissions exam includes subject area tests in English, math, reading and science, and sometimes a writing test. It takes about four hours to complete, and the highest possible composite score is 36.
Neighboring-state Minnesota’s average score also slipped from 22.7 the previous year, when 78 percent of college-bound students took the ACT. Minnesota students still scored high on the test and leads the 18 states where all 2016 high school graduates were tested with an average score of 21.1. Minnesota’s average score also was above the national average of 20.8.
