1998 Nevada graduates turn in best ACT scores

CARSON CITY -- On a college entrance exam taken this year, the state's high school seniors posted the highest score of any Nevada graduating class in the 1990s.

And for the second straight year, the Nevada scores on the American College Testing Program rose above the national average.

The state Department of Education reported Monday that the 5,395 students that took the ACT scored an average 21.4 compared to the national average of 21. The highest scores achieved in Nevada in the 1990s were 21.3 both in 1995 and 1997.

In every category -- English, math, reading and science -- Nevada students registered scores above the national average.

"The results in the critical areas of reading and math are encouraging," said Mary L. Peterson, the state superintendent of public instruction.

The national average score for English was 20.4 compared with 20.6 in Nevada. National math scores averaged 20.8 compared to Nevada's 21.2. The national average in reading was 21.4 compared to Nevada's 21.9 and science 21.1 compared to 21.4 for Nevada.

"Nevada teachers and parents should be proud of the performance of Nevada students on the ACT exams," Peterson said. "Our Nevada graduates continue to perform well academically when compared to the national figures for college-bound graduates."

The highest score a student could achieve was 36. The test is usually taken by students who plan to continue their education beyond high school and Peterson said the results are not necessarily representative of all high school graduating seniors.

Males outperformed females 21.6 to 21.2. Caucasian students posted a score of 21.9 but there was no breakdown for other races since there were less than 500 students in these categories taking the test.

The higher the family income, the higher the test score, the state reported. For instance, in families whose income is $100,000 or more, the students' scores averaged 22.9. In families with an income of $18,000 or less, the scores averaged 19.4.

The average scores for those students in families who have incomes of more than $42,000 were above the national average. Students in families with income below $42,000 scored below the national average.

As expected, the students who completed the core college preparatory curriculum of four years of English and three years each of math, science and social studies, scored best. They posted a 22.2 compared to 19.7 for the students who did not complete the curriculum.

archive