Time to ACT fast: Test results continue downward

Oct. 26—Even with test scores that exceed the national average, St. Joseph students aren't immune from broader concerns about a nationwide decline in ACT exam results.

ACT scores, which indicate student preparedness for college coursework, have dropped to their lowest level in 30 years, continuing a six-year pattern of decline that grew more rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The graduating class of 2023, who generally took the ACT in the fall of 2022, recorded an average composite score of 19.5, indicating many will require some remedial training in their first year of college.

By comparison, the class of 2022 recorded a nationwide average of 19.8, and the class of 2021 scored 20.3.

Graded on a scale of 1 to 36, an ACT result of 20 or better can indicate a student is ready for college learning. The number comes from a composite score of four subjects: English, math, reading and science.

"Students who have below a 20 are going to struggle with basic math skills, like algebraic equations," said Elizabeth Thorne Wallington, an assistant professor of education at Missouri Western State University, who is an expert on standardized tests. "They're going to struggle with reading comprehension and close reading and basically all of the skills, the foundational skills, that you need to be successful in higher-level courses."

Of high concern to experts like Thorne Wallington is how only 30% of all U.S. test-takers scored 22 or above in reading. That's considered to be the benchmark reading standard, much as 20 is viewed as such for all four subjects.

The 30% figure is the lowest among the four core subjects as measured by the ACT. The best is English, where 51% met the benchmark score of 18 or higher. The discrepancy between English and reading scores is notable and portends significant learning challenges ahead.

"English is higher than reading. You would expect them to be correlated with each other," Thorne Wallington said. "On reading, I mean, you have to be able to read for everything. I mean, just in life."

The St. Joseph School District, for its part, records scores slightly above the national norm, but it has seen the decline as well, currently sitting at a 19.7 composite. Class of 2022 seniors recorded a 20.5 composite score. For the Class of 2023, some 41% of St. Joseph students scored at 22 or above in reading, better than the 30% seen nationwide.

Only 29% of local kids scored 22 or above in math, worse than the 40% of all U.S. test takers. Notwithstanding how all ACT math questions are multiple-choice, with responses recorded on a computer-scannable test document, students must apply formulas of algebra and calculus in some instances to verify the correct answer.

"This what we have to teach: 'When you have a multiple-choice question, you really have to look at your distractors. Eliminate those,'" said Christine Prussman, assistant principal at Lafayette High School, who works on test preparation. "'If you're running out of time, what do you do? Highlight and underline on that test what is being asked of you.' There are different strategies."

The ACT has new questions each year, and measures are taken to keep students and teachers from knowing exactly what those will be. Students have to anticipate what they need to know to do well on the test.

That makes teacher experience in test preparation crucial. But in an era that's seen many educators leave the field, having that experience available is an issue.

"So your first year, you almost are going in blind because you've not experienced it from the teacher's side," said Steph Simmons, who teaches at Edison Elementary. "I don't want to discredit new teachers, but that's really what's going on in education. Experienced people are leaving and new people aren't sticking around long enough to become experienced."

How we got here, and how long that creates downward pressure on test scores, is a question experts would like to be able to answer.

"I do think, when you got kids out of the classroom and there was disruption in their learning, it took a minute to get them to learn how to be students, get them back involved," Prussman said. "And also, we've seen changes in the ACT itself."

Some Missouri leaders assign blame to the closures of schools and other pandemic measures of 2020 and 2021, in particular U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt, who spoke on the issue from Washington.

"I think we have to recognize how devastating lockdowns were for our kids, how devastating mask mandates were for our kids," said Schmitt, a Republican who took office in January.

Schmitt, while serving as attorney general of Missouri, filed several lawsuits against school districts that had taken restrictive steps to pare back the COVID-19 virus. He sent letters urging the removal of these measures to several others, including the St. Joseph School District. The district abandoned the mask mandate for good in January 2022 and did not get sued. It had removed its partial-lockdown system, called hybrid education, at the end of 2020.

Schmitt points to the pattern of test scores decreasing from 2020, and not recovering since, as a negative impact on students of such decisions.

"They're having social and emotional challenges from that, including loss of learning," Schmitt said. "Let's just recognize that, and don't let people whitewash that, what happened."

Thorne Wallington said there may be merit to the idea that keeping kids out of in-person study caused learning loss. What ultimately occurred was on a vastly greater scale than anyone could effectively address at the time.

"I really think the lockdown year set us back significantly," she said. "If it's a difference between many more people dying and losing some learning time, we can still make up the learning time. It just will take more than we expected. We've known for a long time that learning disruption is bad for academic achievement."

Marcus Clem can be reached at marcus.clem@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NPNowClem