South Carolina ranks near the bottom among states in recent ACT results

Trend drops despite fewer students testing

Columbia – Last week, the results of the ACT® assessment test for the 2020 Graduating Class were released. Unfortunately, South Carolina students’ ACT scores fell again. South Carolina ranks near the bottom among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, followed only by Mississippi and Nevada. More concerning, South Carolina is the lowest ranked state in the nation among those who do not test all students. It is also important to note that these students most likely tested before COVID-19 forced the abrupt closures of schools at the end of last school year.

The composite score for South Carolina’s 2020 Class of public-school students was 18.1 (out of 36 points), compared to 18.6 in 2019. Also, fewer SC public-school students in 2020 were academically ready for college coursework. In the United States, the percentage of students meeting at least three out of four of the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks in reading, English, science and mathematics remained steady at 37% in 2019 and 2020. In South Carolina, the percentage declined from 24% (2019) to 22% (2020).

Education Oversight Committee (EOC) Executive Director Matthew Ferguson asserts alarm bells should be ringing across the state. “There is no easy solution to these data, but we have to do better than rinse, repeat, and hope for better results,” Ferguson stated. He maintains “students need a more rigorous high school curriculum in order to be better prepared. South Carolina’s growing economy requires that 60 percent of our working-aged adults will need a college degree or credential.”

“These ACT scores emphasize our state has to improve the teaching and learning of reading and mathematics,” stated Ferguson. “Over half of SC students want to attend college but for students to be successful in college, it is critical for them to achieve scores that open doors of opportunity and increase access to scholarships and aid. Student success – from cradle to career – must be our collective goal.” stated Ferguson.

Among 2020 public school graduates, 76 percent of students took the ACT. Beginning with school year 2017-18, juniors in SC have the option of taking either the ACT or SAT funded by the State. Fifteen states, including eight in the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), require 100 percent of students to take the ACT. The average composite score among SC students is lower than all 15 states testing 100 percent of their students, with the exception of Mississippi, where the average composite score of 2020 graduates was 18.2.

The percentage of SC graduates meeting college benchmarks also dropped from 2019 to 2020 in every subject area, except Science. Only 14 percent of students met all four subject-area benchmarks, compared to 15 percent in 2019. Nationally, 26 percent of students met all four benchmarks. A benchmark score is the minimum score needed on an ACT subject-area test to indicate a 50% chance that the student will obtain a B or higher or about a 75% chance of obtaining a C or higher in the corresponding credit-bearing college course.

Additional results are summarized below with national and state comparisons noted.

• Like the nation, South Carolina has a significant proportion of our students aspiring to attend college. Approximately 66% of all ACT-tested seniors in America aspired to postsecondary education. In South Carolina, 61% of all seniors aspired to postsecondary education in 2020.
  
  Ferguson pointed out the tremendous opportunity we have, as the majority of students aspire to post-secondary education. However, Ferguson pointed to some missed opportunities that can prevent students from achieving at higher levels.
  
  “Students need to be encouraged to take the ACT multiple times if they aspire to attending a two or four-year college or university in our state,” stated Ferguson. “Educators, families, policymakers – all of us – need to have higher expectations of students and we need to provide resources and prevent barriers which unintentionally keep students from persisting and achieving.”
   
• There is great reason for concern when looking at the racial and ethnic achievement gaps among SC’s 2020 graduates. Only five percent of SC Black/African American students meet the college readiness benchmark in mathematics, compared to 12% nationally. Only six percent of SC Black/African American students met the college readiness benchmark in Science in 2020.  

Percent of S.C. and U.S. ACT-Tested High School Graduates Meeting ACT College Readiness Benchmark Scores by Race/Ethnicity, 2020

Results of The ACT, SC Public School Graduation Class Trends and National Trends

ACT Composite Scores and Percent Tested for 16 Member States of
Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)

The SC Education Oversight Committee is an independent, non-partisan group made up of 18 educators, business persons, and elected leaders. Created in 1998, the committee is dedicated to reporting facts, measuring change, and promoting progress within South Carolina’s education system.