Press Release

Cobb Students’ ACT Scores Rise Again
Composite scores top state & national averages in all subjects

Recently released ACT scores show that for the third consecutive year Cobb County’s college-bound seniors have improved the school district’s composite score on the college preparation test. In addition, Cobb students have again topped the state and national averages in all four subject areas of the test, as well as in the composite average, just as they did in 2007.

According to the Georgia Department of Education, the composite scores of five Cobb County high schools (Walton, Wheeler, Pope, Lassiter and Kennesaw Mountain) ranked among the 25 highest scores in the state. Walton’s composite score of 25.0 was the highest of any high school in Georgia.

ACT scores for the class of 2008 indicate that Cobb graduates are well prepared for success in their first year of college. The 2008 seniors posted an average composite score of 22 (out of a possible 36), slightly higher than last year’s score of 21.9. The composite average was 1.4 points higher than the state average, and 0.9 points higher than the national average. Across the subject areas tested, Cobb students topped the national averages in English (+1.1), Math (+1.1), Reading (+0.8), and Science Reasoning (+0.5) (See Table I of PDF attachment). The ACT assessment measures high school students’ overall educational development and their readiness for the challenge of core college classes. Cobb seniors’ composite average has topped the state and national average for 12 consecutive years.

Students taking more rigorous classes in science or math tended to have higher ACT scores, promoting the value of enrollment in more advanced classes at the high school level. For example, Cobb students who participated in a high school math course sequence that included Algebra I and II, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Calculus, had scores nearly five points higher than students with less than three years of math coursework. Similarly, students taking advanced science classes that included Biology, Chemistry and Physics scored more than three points higher than those taking less than three years of science. (See Table II of PDF attachment).

Results reflect the performance of 2,742 Cobb high school seniors (39 percent of all graduating seniors). Scores are for 2007-2008 seniors who took the ACT voluntarily in either their sophomore, junior or senior year of high school. Scores for individual Cobb high schools can be found in Table III of the PDF attachment.

Download this Press Release with Data Tables in Adobe PDF format.

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