County Students Do Well on ACTs

Average scores on the 2017 ACT college-readiness exam for public and private high schools in Sequoyah County have been released and can be seen in the accompanying chart.

The scores are averages of the highest score achieved on the test by graduating seniors.

According to 2015 data from the National Center for Education Statistics, 9.6 percent of private-school PK-12 students nationwide were living in poverty, compared with 20.9 percent for public-school students. Research has shown that low performance on standardized tests tends to correlate with lower income levels. Still, students at some Oklahoma schools with higher poverty rates averaged above the statewide composite-score average of 20.8.

Since 2017, Oklahoma students have been required to take either the ACT or SAT in 11th grade, and most schools use the ACT. For the past two years, Oklahoma has boasted a 100 percent participation rate, according to ACT.

The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, which provided the data, withheld numbers for schools with fewer than six testers to protect students’ privacy.

Sallisaw School Superintendent Jeremy Jackson said, “We are very pleased our students scored nearly a full point above the state average.” 

He credited High School Principal Russell Tillery and the high school teachers for the good test results. 

Tillery said, “It was all the teachers and our kids who worked hard. The students know this is their ticket to college. They are showing improvement and we hope to continue that improvement.” 

Sallisaw High School students had the highest composite score in the county at 20.5. 

Muldrow School Superintendent Ron Flanagan said 109 students there took the ACTS, and scored an average composite if 19.8. 

“All the credit goes to our teachers,” Flanagan said. “They and our students did an outstanding job on the ACTs and on all the standardized tests.” 

To see the full report on Oklahoma students’ ACTs scores visit oklahomawatch.org/2018/10/11/act-scores.

Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

For more news stories stay tuned to The MIX 105.1 or visit www.kxmx.com