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August 17, 2006
Recently released results of the ACT show that Cobb high
school students improved on average in nearly every subject
area of the test that assesses college preparedness. Cobb
students’ average scores increased in English, Math and
Reading, and were unchanged in a fourth subject, Science
Reasoning. In addition, Cobb’s graduating class of 2006 posted
composite scores that topped state and national scores for the
fifth consecutive year.
Cobb students also measured well on the college readiness
benchmark scores. These scores are used to determine whether
students are likely to be successful in core college courses
such as English composition and social science. Students
scoring 18 or higher on the English test, and 21 or higher on
the Reading test, are likely to obtain a B or higher in
freshman composition classes and social science classes.
Approximately 74 percent of Cobb students scored 18+ on the
English test and approximately 55 percent scored 21+ on the
reading test. Both of these percentages were about 10 percent
higher than those of the state, where 46 percent of students
scored 21+ on the Reading test and 64 percent scored 18+ on
the English test.
Students taking more rigorous classes in science or math
tended to have higher ACT scores, confirming the value of
enrollment in more advanced classes at the high school level.
For example,
Cobb students who participated in a high school science course
sequence that included four or more courses had scores nearly
three points higher than students with fewer than three years
of science coursework. Similarly, students taking advanced
math courses, including Calculus, scored four points higher
than those taking fewer than three years of math.
Compared to the class of 2005, students this year had higher
average scores in English, Math and Reading, while Science
Reasoning scores were unchanged. The District’s Composite
score also increased from 2005, with Cobb students scoring
21.5 (out of a possible 36) compared to last year’s 21.3.
Cobb’s Composite score was 1.3 points higher than the state
average and 0.4 points higher than their national average.
Cobb students also topped national averages in English (+0.6),
Math (+0.6), and Reading (+0.3).
Results reflect the performance of 2,022 Cobb high school
seniors (27 percent of all graduating seniors). Scores are for
2005-2006 seniors who took the ACT voluntarily in either their
sophomore, junior or senior year of high school.
Individual school scores are available here in Adobe PDF
format.
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