ACT Rankings: National; Local; What it means for Us

Wisconsin’s ACT National Rankings and the Implications for Evansville’s Boys.

At the September 10th school board meeting, reference was made to Wisconsin being the top ranked state on the ACT test. This jogged my memory to a report I had read about Minnesota recently edging us on the ACT. So I did a little searching at the ACT website. It has some very cool interactive charts for the last 3 years, but earlier data required the old tried and true hunt and peck technique. Data that could not be found was requested from ACT and received.

The findings are summarized on the Excel file ACTRankings. In that file, you will find a chart of rank and the scores from which those rankings were established as well as bar charts describing the raw ACT scores and the National Rankings for each subject and the composite scores. In 1999, Wisconsin ranked 14th overall in the percentage of students who took the ACT, tied with Illinois at 67%. (Higher numbers receive better rankings). The ranking has gone down to 16th in 2007, despite an increase in the percentage of students taking the test to 70%. This is probably due in large part to Colorado and Illinois making the ACT test a mandatory test for their high school graduates. Many southern states such as Alabama and Arkansas had surprisingly high participation rates (in the high 80s and 90s). The low participation rate of some states was a surprise. Many of these states are typically held up as the bastion of educational superiority, such as Connecticut and Massachusetts. Several were on the East or West Coast, so it may be a regional preference for the SAT or other entrance exam for their state schools.

In terms of test performance, one can see that while Wisconsin’s Composite score has remained steadfast at 22.2 (book-ended by two 22.3s), our rank for that same score has fallen from 4 to 9. As implied by this data, similar phenomena are observed for each separate subject. Our English score fell in rank from 6 to 11 while the scores at first decreased from and then increased back to 21.6. Our Math ranking also decreased from 2 to 11 while the score remained at 22.2 after a similar dip and recovery. Our Reading rank fell from 9 to 13 while the score held steady at 22.4. Finally, our stellar Science ranking fell from 1st to 5th with the same score of 22.4, with the familiar dip and recovery pattern.

A quick review of the summary line at the bottom of the chart shows that last year, Wisconsin barely made it into the top third of the states in ACT participation rate – at 70%! I’m not sure what statistic they are using to calculate participation rate. It doesn’t jibe with Wisconsin reported participation data at all (ACT data are much higher than Wisconsin data). It is probably safe to assume that the ACT data are internally consistent.

As far as performance goes, in 1999, Wisconsin could claim top billing in the nation in ACT performance. Our statewide ACT performance is still strong, but it’s a stretch to call it the best. Wisconsin scores result in rankings among the top 20-26% of the states across the board, with a special nod to our science performance (yea, I say!). Well above average, but not the best and it shouldn’t be represented as such. But again, more disturbingly, I see a downward trend in Wisconsin’s National Ranking despite maintaining the same raw scores. Even though Evansville boys are maintaining their ACT performance level, this translates to a decrease in National Ranking.

I used an interesting exercise to arrive at this conclusion. All of the boys and girls scores were compared to charts of average state scores from 1998-2007 (requested from and received from ACT). Each year’s gender averages were treated as if they were their own state. It is understood that this approach is not statistically robust, but it does drive home some interesting points. The most blatant example of score inflation is the increase in the boys’ average math score from 22.7 to 22.9, which fell from a ranking of 1 to 5. Another demonstration of this concept is that the score by which the boys achieved a Composite ranking of 9 in 2000-2001 was much lower (21.9) than the score needed to maintain that same rank of 9 in 2006-2007 (22.4). It seems undeniable that a flat performance by our boys on the ACT over time has some potential for causing them harm in the long run.

Another unavoidable conclusion from evaluating the data in this way is how completely putrid our girls’ ACT scores were from 1999-2004. A concerted effort was clearly needed in this district to improve our girls’ scores from the abysmal 1999-2004 performance levels. If somebody didn’t sit down in a room and say, “We need to get our girls’ ACT performance out of the sewer,” then they should have. Whatever was planted clearly has taken root and with care will continue to blossom. In addition, now is the time to remain vigilant with our boys’ ACT scores to allow them to soar with our girls.

If other states are having success in raising their scores (which is inferred by these data), then Wisconsin can raise its scores as well. And the district of Evansville can contribute to this by enabling ALL of our students to enhance and improve their ACT achievement.

Respectfully submitted,

Melissa Hammann