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ACT Shows Wyoming Needs Stronger Focus On College Readiness

Wyoming Department of Education

Wyoming came in seventh out of 17 states in ACT exam scores. Those 17 states all require 100 percent of students to take the test. In some states only college bound students take the test. Final analysis of nationwide scores from 2016 were released this month.

 

Wyoming’s average composite score was 20.2. And while that’s just 0.6 off the national average, it’s far from a perfect score of 36. Most top tier colleges or universities require a score above 31.

 

But State Superintendent Jillian Balow said the point is not to scrutinize student performance, but to use the results to gauge how well schools are preparing students for their future. She said the 2016 results show progress.

 

“With the ACT even partial points are really critical,” said Balow. “So we went from 20.0 last year to 20.2 this year, and while .2 might not seem like very much it really is.”

 

Balow said that kind of incremental growth is good, but she’d like to see results improve at a little bit faster pace.

 

“One of the requests that I have made of the state is to engage post-secondary education, or higher education to a much greater degree,” Balow said. “And really make sure our K-12 standards are aligned to what college expectations are.”

 

Wyoming’s average score went up from 20 to 20.2 in 2016.

 

Tennessee -- despite what the name might make you think -- was born and raised in the Northeast. She most recently called Vermont home. For the last 15 years she's been making radio -- as a youth radio educator, documentary producer, and now reporter. Her work has aired on Reveal, The Heart, LatinoUSA, Across Women's Lives from PRI, and American RadioWorks. One of her ongoing creative projects is co-producing Wage/Working (a jukebox-based oral history project about workers and income inequality). When she's not reporting, Tennessee likes to go on exploratory running adventures with her mutt Murray.
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