By Samuel Speciale, Education Reporter
for the Charleston Gazette-Mail
West Virginia high school graduates this year failed to reach college readiness benchmarks in math, reading and science, a new report compiled by American College Testing has found.
While the 11,289 graduates who took the ACT assessment this year posted better composite scores than past cohorts and outperformed their peers across the country in English and reading, the state, as a whole, continues to fall behind the national average.
In English and reading, 69 percent and 48 percent of West Virginia graduates met the ACT benchmark, compared to the national average of 64 percent and 46 percent. In math and science, it was only 34 percent, compared to the nation's 42 percent and 38 percent. Students who meet benchmarks are more likely to do well in a freshman-level college class of the same subject.
Only 21 percent of West Virginia test takers met benchmarks in all four subjects. The national average was 28 percent.
Despite those shortcomings, West Virginia improved its composite score to 20.8, eclipsing 20.6 for the first time in four years. The nation's average composite score is 21. The test is graded on a scale of 1 to 36.
Read the rest WV students not ready for college math, reading or science By Samuel Speciale, Education Reporter for the Charleston Gazette-Mail
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