St. Charles Parish Public Schools testing of 2017 exceeded the state average in meeting the minimum entry level college score on the ACT standardized test.
The system’s composite score was 20.2 for this period that included testing in May and December, nearly level with the previous year’s class results, but above Louisiana’s score of 19.6. Some 409 students scored 18 and above on the test.
The ACT test is a college readiness assessment used by universities for admissions purposes and a student scoring an 18 or higher on the test is generally considered ready to take college-level courses. Students scoring lower than an 18 are often required to undergo remedial work before taking those courses.
“Composite results indicate that the students in St. Charles Parish are scoring better than Louisiana,” said Ajit “AJ” Pethe, the system’s assistant superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment.
All 11th grade students are required to take the ACT, Pethe said. This testing requirement was initiated by the state in 2012-2013 school year. Prior to this requirement, only college bound students took the ACT for college admissions purposes since ACT is designed to measure the skills needed for success in first-year college coursework.
Pethe added ACT scores are an indicator of academic achievement.
In a year-by-year comparative, St. Charles Parish public schools’ 12th-grade composite score has hovered around 20 since 2011, consistently exceeding the state average score.
In number of students scoring good or excellent, Destrehan High School had 73 percent in 2016 slightly down from the previous year’s 74 percent in all subjects, according to the Louisiana Department of Education test results. Hahnville High School had 65 percent, down from the previous year’s 69 percent.
By subject, the parish’s school system showed a substantially higher percentage of students scoring good to excellent results in Algebra I at 74 percent over the state’s 62 percent.
Again, a year-to-year comparative showed the system’s seniors consistently ranging in 69 to 74 percent scoring good to excellent on the test.
Statewide, the percent of students reached its highest percentage at 62 in latest results.
In biology, the parish’s school system percent scoring good to excellent in latest results declined to 69 percent compared to 74 percent the previous year. But, again, the system exceeded the state percentage of 56 percent, which rose from the previous year.
According to the LDOE, a record number of public high school graduates in the class of 2017 earned college-going scores on the ACT exam.
“Four straight years of gains on the ACT proves, beyond a doubt, that when you raise expectations for all students, they can achieve great things,” said State Superintendent John White. “It also proves we can go further. Our state’s plan to comply with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) raises ACT expectations from a level that allows basic admission to college to a level that demonstrates true readiness for college. Our students have accomplished a lot. When we raise the bar, they will accomplish more.”In the graduating class of 2017, 25,704 public school graduates earned a score of 18 or higher, generally allowing them admission to college without the need to retake high school classes. In the class of 2012, only 18,307 graduates achieved this level, an increase of 7,397 students over the last five years. The number of students meeting eligibility criteria for the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) scholarship also grew at every level of the scholarship award this year.
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