The percentage of Oklahoma’s graduating seniors who are ready for college of a career hasn’t changed since last year, according to ACT testing benchmarks.
The testing organization’s annual Condition of College and Career Readiness report released Wednesday shows the number of 2015 high school graduates who met benchmarks in each of the four subject areas – English, reading, math, and science – remained at 22 percent.
The benchmarks represent the score required for students to have a 50 percent chance of obtaining a grade of B or higher, or a 75 percent chance of earning a C in first-year college courses like English composition, algebra, biology, or the social sciences.
Nationally, 28 percent of ACT test-takers who graduated this spring met all four benchmarks. Oklahoma’s percentage has slowly been increasing from 17 percent since 2008.
Over the past five years, Oklahoma students maintained an average score of 20.7. That’s just below the national average of 21, according to the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange’s Emily Wendler:
Here is a breakdown of the data: 64 percent of Oklahoma students were ready for college-level course work in English. This is even with the national data. 64 percent of students nationwide were ready for college-level coursework in English Composition as well. Oklahoma was lower than the national average in Algebra. 34 percent of the students who took the test were ready for college level math, as compared to 42 percent of the students who took the test nation-wide. Oklahoma students slightly surpassed students nationally in the Social Science category. 47 percent met the College Social Science benchmark in the state, while only 46 percent of students did nationally. And Oklahoma students lagged behind the national average in College Biology. 33 percent of students in Oklahoma met the benchmark biology score, while 38 percent of students did nationally.
Nearly 31,000 students, or roughly 80 percent of Oklahoma’s 2015 graduating high school seniors, took the ACT. That compares to just 59 percent nationwide.
Students specify a college major they’re interested in when they take the test. Among the most popular majors, Aeronautical or aerospace engineering students from Oklahoma fared the best. 54 percent of students who picked that major met all four benchmarks. Only 4 percent of students who intended to major in medical assisting met the benchmarks.
Last week State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister announced the state Department of Education would pay for all Oklahoma students to take the ACT during their junior year. It won’t be mandatory, and it’s expected to cost about $1.5 million. Hofmeister says it would allow 22,000 more high school juniors to take the test who otherwise couldn’t due to travel accommodations or financial hardship.
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