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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Thursday, August 21, 2003

ACT scores top national average

By Steve Giegerich
Associated Press

For the third consecutive year, Hawai'i students scored higher than the national average on the ACT college entrance exam, recording an average composite score of 21.8.

Hawai'i students also scored higher than the national average in each of the four components of the test measuring skills in English, math, reading and science.

"Hawai'i's students continue to do well on the ACT," state Schools Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto said in a statement. "Their consistent above-average performance over several years is a source of pride."

Nationwide, the high school class of 2003 had an average composite score of 20.8 on the ACT, matching last year's total, but the test-maker warned that more than half of this year's students may not be ready for college-level coursework in either math or science.

The ACT scale ranges from 1 to the highest possible score of 36.

Hawai'i students scored an average of 20.9 on the English component, 22.7 in math, 21.8 in reading and 21.5 in science. The national averages were 20.3 in English, 20.6 in math, 21.2 in reading and 20.8 in science.

In all, 2,194 Hawai'i public and private school students took the ACT in 2003.

Nationwide, nearly 1.2 million high schoolers took the nation's second-largest admissions test, a record number, up from about 1.1 million last year.

Richard Ferguson, chief executive officer of the Iowa City, Iowa-based nonprofit, was encouraged that overall scores remained steady even as the number of test-takers grew by more than 5 percent.

"We might expect the average score to decline, since we are likely adding students from a wider range of academic achievement," Ferguson said in a prepared statement. "Instead, we have seen remarkable stability in the average ACT score."

However, this year the ACT also examined test scores to look at the skills students will need for first-year math, science and English courses in college.

Researchers concluded that just 26 percent of test-takers were ready to handle the coursework in science and 40 percent in math. In English, 67 percent of students were prepared. The ACT said students who take more and tougher math and science courses in high school tend to score better on the exam.

"We've heard a lot of talk recently about the inadequacy of students' writing skills. However, it appears that the more critical problems are in science and math," Ferguson said.

The results of individual test scores on the ACT and the SAT — the country's largest entrance exam — are used by colleges and universities to gauge a student's academic potential. The SAT, owned by the nonprofit College Board, will release its test results next week.

Looking at the results by gender, male test-takers had an average composite score of 21, with females averaging 20.8, a difference that matched past exam results. The ACT said 56 percent of those taking the test were female and 44 percent were male.