The US high school class of 2022 had the lowest average ACT score in more than three decades, according to the organization that administers the test, which also noted that the class had to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic’s effects for three academic years.
A nonprofit organization by the same name administers the ACT, a standardized test used for college admissions. The organization stated in a news release that the average ACT score this year was the lowest it had been since 1991.
Additionally, average scores have been declining for the past five years, according to ACT CEO Janet Godwin.
More than 40% of 2022 high school graduates did not meet any of the ACT college readiness benchmarks
“The magnitude of the declines this year is particularly alarming, as we see rapidly growing numbers of seniors leaving high school without meeting the college-readiness benchmark in any of the subjects we measure,” Godwin said.
More than 40% of 2022 high school graduates did not meet any of the ACT college readiness benchmarks, which include the subjects of English, reading, math, and science, according to data released by ACT this week.
Godwin warned that the declines are not entirely attributable to the pandemic but rather “evidence of long-standing systemic failures that were exacerbated by the pandemic.”
“A return to the pre-pandemic status quo would be insufficient and a disservice to students and educators. These systemic failures require sustained collective action and support for the academic recovery of high school students as an urgent national priority and imperative,” she added.
“School shootings, violence, and classroom disruptions” are also up
Between 2020 and 2022, math and reading scores for 9-year-olds in the US fell precipitously, to a degree not seen in decades. Then-US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona claimed that those outcomes were related to the reduction in face-to-face classroom time and declared that there was a crisis in education in the nation.
Peggy Carr, the commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, had noted, however, that other factors also interfered with students’ ability to learn.
“School shootings, violence, and classroom disruptions are up, as are teacher and staff vacancies, absenteeism, cyberbullying, and students’ use of mental health services. This information provides some important context for the results we’re seeing from the long-term trend assessment,” Carr said that time.
