High school students’ scores on the ACT college admissions test have dropped to their lowest in more than three decades, showing a lack of student preparedness for college-level coursework, according to the nonprofit organization that administers the test.

Scores have been falling for six consecutive years, but the trend accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students in the class of 2023 whose scores were reported Wednesday were in their first year of high school when the virus reached the U.S.

“The hard truth is that we are not doing enough to ensure that graduates are truly ready for postsecondary success in college and career,” said Janet Godwin, chief executive officer for the nonprofit ACT.

The average ACT composite score for U.S. students was 19.5 out of 36. Last year, the average score was 19.8.

  • Jaysyn
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    fedilink
    641 year ago

    A lot of my daughter’s classmates feel high school is pointless because the oncoming climate apocalypse will make most of it irrelevant.

    And this is a blood-red rural Florida county, I imagine it’s even more prevalent elsewhere.

    • @LongPigFlavor
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      31 year ago

      Fellow Floridian here. I appreciate what I’ve learned in school, but it feels like they were preparing us for an ideal world that never existed. Things are especially bleak here in Florida with the affordability crisis, the environmental crisis, and the political crisis.