Chris Zimmerman

SOC 120

Weston

ACT Scores in the US:

Past 13 years

The ACT is one of two common test scores colleges use to gauge the abilities of students applying; the best anyone can get is a 36 and the worst is a 0. Colleges are looking harder and harder at applications to get the brightest and best students available, but the statistics from www.act.org sing a different tune.

The average ACT composite scores over past thirteen have stayed between 20-21, and just this past year have inched past the 21 mark. In 1994 the average composite score was 20.7 and in 2007 the scores reached their highest in years, 21.2. You would figure since there has been such a push for education in the elementary and high school settings in the past fiver or so years the scores would have gone up over the past couple of years. I would also figure that the scores would be getting progressive better over the past thirteen years as well. With more and more people being able to educate their children and more and more people being able to further their education, these people would be scoring better on college entrance exams.

One very interesting statistic that goes along with the average composite score is the percent of high school graduates that take the ACT. In 1994 36% of the people who had obtained a high school diploma took the ACT, compared to 42% in 2007. This number has increased every year and we can assume since more people are taking the exam more people are furthering their education; this not only aids the individual, but American society in general. The more people with higher education the better off society is in the future.

There was one factor I thought of that might have affected the average scores over the past 13 years: were the test getting progressive harder each year? I realize that new ideas and concept have been thought of since 1994 and someone in 2007 would not be taking the same test as a student from 1994. But how much does each exam change from year to year? If each test does change then America seems to be staying at the same level of intelligence, not gaining or falling back.