1999 National Press Release
August 17, 1999
| NOTE TO EDITORS/REPORTERS: This news release and accompanying documents report information about the nation's 1999 high school graduates who took the ACT Assessment. States, districts and schools receive similar information about their students. However, ACT releases only national and selected state data; ACT does not release local district or school data. You must contact district and school offices for local information. |
ACT Scores Show Significant Gains in the '90s
- Record Number of ACT-Tested High School Graduates
- College Readiness Improves; Varies by Subject
- Evidence of Looming Teacher Shortage; Continued Lack of Interest in Computer Careers
IOWA CITY, IOWA—College-bound high school students have established a "first"—a decade in which the national average ACT score increased substantially. Data for 1999 show the composite ACT score remaining at 21.0 for the second consecutive year. Ten years ago, the national average was 20.6.
The 1999 average was achieved by a record number of 1,019,053 high school graduates who took the ACT college entrance and placement exam. The ACT score range is 1-36.
According to an announcement today from Richard L. Ferguson, president of ACT, Inc., 10 consecutive years of either stable and or increased ACT scores is unprecedented.
"This is the first time the ACT score at the end of a decade has been noticeably higher than it was at the beginning," Ferguson said. "Over the 1960s, the national score decreased nearly one full point, and in the '70s it fell another 1.3 points. At the end of the '80s, the score was one-tenth of a point above where it was when the decade began. In the '90s, however, we've experienced a significant gain of almost half a point."
Ferguson also noted substantial growth in the number of students taking the ACT in the '90s: "Nearly 164,000 more ACT-tested students graduated this year than graduated in 1989. This combination of trends—more students preparing for college while achieving higher entrance-exam scores—should be welcomed by those concerned about American education, especially as it pertains to college readiness."
According to ACT researchers, this recent performance is especially significant in light of increasing numbers of college-bound female and minority students. In 1989, 54 percent of ACT-tested students were female, and 17 percent were minorities. Today those percentages are 57 and 24.
The rise in the national average ACT score from 20.6 to 21.0 over this period suggests that college-bound high school graduates, especially females and minorities, continue to become better prepared for postsecondary education. Greater participation by members of groups that historically score below average could lead to declines in the national score if those students were not also improving their performance.
College Readiness Improves; Varies by Subject
ACT research has shown consistently that higher-level preparation in the core courses is directly related to higher achievement on the ACT tests and, thus, to success in college. Large differences between the scores of those with core preparation and those with less are evident among all racial/ethnic groups and at all socioeconomic levels (see the ACT High School Graduating Class of 1999 National Report).
"We've seen a significant increase in students' preparation for college in the last decade," Ferguson said. "In 1989, less than half of the graduates—46 percent—reported taking a core curriculum. This year, 63 percent reported having done so.
"On the basis of their performance on the four ACT tests, members of the class of 1999 appear to be best prepared to succeed in their freshman college English and social studies courses."
Regarding English courses, Ferguson said that 48 percent of this year's graduates should be ready for advanced composition, as indicated by their scores of 21 and higher on the ACT English test. Another 27 percent achieved scores of 17 to 20 and, according to Ferguson, "probably should be advised to enroll in a standard composition course first."
Students who score under 16 on any of the four ACT tests are generally considered to demonstrate a level of performance in that subject below what most colleges require for enrollment in credit-bearing courses.
"Scores of 1 to 15 indicate that students are likely to need additional pre-college classes or on-campus developmental assistance if they're to succeed in standard freshman courses," Ferguson said. "Even scores of 16 to 19, depending on the subject area, indicate only minimal readiness. Many colleges will expect higher levels of performance from their entering students."
In regard to math courses, Ferguson said that about 34 percent of the class of '99 are prepared to take college algebra: "They scored 23 or higher on the ACT mathematics test."
Forty-seven percent of this year's graduates scored 22 or higher on the ACT reading test, which measures students' readiness for courses that require substantial reading and demand an understanding of narratives and informational passages. Students with these scores are prepared for entry-level social science courses such as American history or psychology.
On the ACT test in science reasoning, 27 percent of the students scored 24 or higher, Ferguson said: "This suggests they're ready for the first biology or chemistry course. The majority probably should enroll in a less rigorous science course first."
Percentages of ACT-Tested 1999 Graduates Prepared for Specific College Courses
| Course | % Ready | Appropriate ACT Test & Score Level |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Composition | 48 | English, 21+ |
| College Algebra | 34 | Mathematics, 23+ |
| Social Sciences | 47 | Reading, 22+ |
| Biology/Chemistry | 27 | Science Reasoning, 24+ |
Evidence of Looming Teacher Shortage;
Continued Lack of Interest in Computer Careers
Highlighting 1999 ACT data pointing to the need for career counseling for students, Ferguson noted that education is one career field in which demand is beginning to significantly outpace interest, as has already occurred with computers.
"The Department of Education has estimated a need for more than two million new teachers over the next decade," Ferguson said, "and President Clinton has promised to reduce class sizes, which would add to the need. But ACT has been recording students' vocational choices since the 1960s, and we've found that the portion of high school graduates interested in a career in education today is half what it was 30 years ago—and just where it's been for the last 20 years—fluctuating between 9 and 10 percent."
"The problem is especially acute for minorities. The percentages of elementary and secondary students belonging to minority groups increase every year, but even fewer minority than majority graduates are interested in careers in education."
| Percentages of 1999 ACT-Tested Graduates Interested in a Career in Education, by Racial/Ethnic Group |
| Asian | 4 |
| Black | 6 |
| Caucasian | 11 |
| Hispanic | 8 |
| Multiracial | 7 |
| Native American | 9 |
| Other | 7 |
Further complicating matters, according to Ferguson, are the facts that not everyone choosing a career in education wants to teach and that, according to studies, only half those interested in teaching when they leave high school ever end up in an elementary or secondary classroom.
"Most students say they're interested in a career in medicine or business," Ferguson said. "As a nation, we might serve ourselves better if we communicated more up-to-date information about the labor market and the job outlook to high school students so they can make more-informed career choices well before they commit to a program of study.
"A year ago, for instance, ACT created a bit of a stir when we pointed out that only a little over 3 percent of the high school graduates indicated an interest in a computer-science career. That small number stood out starkly against reports of hundreds of thousands of openings in the computer field and Labor Department projections that the three fastest-growing occupations through the year 2006 are all computer-related.
"A year later, the situation hasn't changed much. Interest in computer-related careers is up only very slightly, to about 4 percent of college-bound students."
The Three Occupations with the Fastest Employment Growth
1996-2006*
| Occupation | Employment | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 2006 | Change | |
| Database administrators, computer support specialists and all other computer scientists | 212,000 | 461,000 | 118% |
| Computer Engineers | 216,000 | 451,000 | 109% |
| Systems Analysts | 506,000 | 1,025,000 | 103% |
* Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor
The Top 10 Vocational Choices of 1999 ACT-Tested Graduates
| Vocational Choice | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Health Sciences | 180,000+ | 19.2 |
| Business & Management | 105,000+ | 11.2 |
| Undecided | 97,000+ | 10.4 |
| Education | 89,000+ | 9.5 |
| Social Sciences | 81,000+ | 8.6 |
| Engineering | 65,000+ | 7.0 |
| Visual & Performing Arts | 55,000+ | 5.9 |
| Sciences | 48,000+ | 5.1 |
| Communications | 38,000+ | 4.1 |
| Computer & Information Science | 37,000+ | 4.0 |
Additional data of interest from the 1999 ACT report:
- Females are taking more math: The number of ACT-tested female graduates increased in 1999, while the number of females taking less than three years of math decreased. Higher percentages of females than males take trigonometry and chemistry. Males continue to take more calculus and physics.
- The "gender gap" has fallen back to 0.2 scale points: Males saw their composite average in 1999 slip to 21.1 from 21.2, but females maintained theirs at 20.9. The average difference between the composite scores of males and females has been much narrower from 1994 to 1999 than at any other time.
- Minority performance remained generally stable in 1999. All scores for Black and Hispanic students were the same as the year before, except that Blacks declined 0.1 point in reading. Asian and multiracial students remained above average in most areas despite declines in every score but English. Average scores for Native Americans declined for the first time since 1992.
ACT Test Scores, 1998 & 1999, by Ethnic/Racial Background & for Total Group
*Increase or (decrease) from 1998 to 1999 in number tested. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1999 ACT National and State Scores
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