Test Scores for US Students Drop to New Low

(ConservativeJournal.org) – While scores of leftist jurisdictions across the United States have been inundating our children with LGBTQ indoctrination and lessons on critical race theory, standardized testing scores have plummeted to a 30-plus-year low. The latest data appears to show a dramatic lack of college preparedness on the part of American high school students.

ACT exam scores had already been on the decline prior to the onset of the pandemic, but the world-changing event appears to have accelerated the trend. Seniors due to graduate in 2023 were freshmen at the time of the first lockdowns. Their combined test results after four years of study were released in an October 11 report and reflected a sixth consecutive year of declining scores.

The organization responsible for constructing and administering the test is a nonprofit that goes by the same name, that of ACT. Janet Godwin, the group’s CEO, commented on the latest statistics and called them part of a “hard truth.” She said the U.S. education hierarchy is failing “to ensure that” those who are preparing to graduate “are truly ready” to move on to “postsecondary success in” universities and careers.

The college entrance exam that millions of American high-schoolers dread is scored out of 36-possible points. Students who score on the higher end of test-takers are entitled to potential college assistance in the form of federal grants and partial or full scholarships. Full-rides, as they are commonly known, typically require a score of 28 or higher.

For 2023, the average composite score for students was only 19.5. The previous year, it was 19.8. Math, science and reading scores for 2023 all fell below the benchmark standard that ACT officials say students need to carry with them in order to have a good shot at success during their first year of college.

English scores came in slightly above the predetermined benchmark, but still declined when compared to the numbers for 2022.

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