ACT test scores hit 30-year low, pandemic blamed

Some ACTion is needed.

Test scores on the ACT college preparation test hit a 30-year low in 2022, according to a new report.

The standardized test’s maximum score is a 36, and the average score had been above 20 every year since 1991. This year’s average score was 19.8, a full point lower than 2018′s average score of 20.8.

“These declines are not simply a byproduct of the pandemic,” ACT CEO Janet Godwin said in a press release. “They are further evidence of longtime systemic failures that were exacerbated by the pandemic.”

A standard bubble-in test sheet.

Another potential factor is the ACT’s decline in popularity. In 2018, more than 1.9 million high school students took the ACT. In 2022, that number dropped to 1.3 million, a decline of more than 30%.

Students can score higher on standardized tests like the ACT and its competitor, the SAT, if they take rigorous training courses. That gives students with more time and money on their hands a better shot at success — and often puts non-white students at a disadvantage.

In 2020, several universities decided to recognize that discrepancy and decreased the importance of standardized testing. The University of California, one of the nation’s largest university systems, stopped requiring SAT or ACT scores in applications.

Unsurprisingly, the people behind the ACT didn’t agree with the moves.

“Now more than ever, the last few years have shown us the importance of having high quality data to help inform how we support students,” senior director of partnerships Rose Babington said. The ACT is still required in a few states, including Tennessee and Nevada.

Scores declined across the board in 2022, with fewer students meeting testing benchmarks in all four ACT categories: English, math, reading and science. Only 22% of test-takers met the benchmark in all four categories.

With News Wire Services