DECATUR — Recently released ACT test scores show the Decatur High School’s focus on improving college readiness is starting to pay off.

The school’s average composite ACT score improved from a 17.4 in 2011 to a 18.9 in 2012, compared to the state average of 19.9 in 2011 and 20.3 in 2012.

“I’m very pleased that we came up. We’re not where we want to be, but we’re improving,” high school counselor Nancy Cotter said.

The ACT test is the most widely used test to measure a student’s college readiness in English, math, reading and science, according to the testing company’s website, www.act.org. It is scored on a scale of 1 to 36.

While both juniors and seniors take the test - sometimes multiple times - the averages released by ACT reflect the last time the seniors took the test, according to Cotter.

Although Decatur’s ACT test scores have improved, they still fall short of the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks in all areas except English, as do the state’s average scores. Only six percent of the 16 Decatur seniors who took the test last year met ACT College Readiness Benchmarks in all four areas of English, Mathematics, Reading and Science, according to 2012 test data. In comparison, 19 percent of students in the state and 28 percent of students in the nation met all four benchmarks

Last year, Decatur Superintendent Larry Ben made college readiness, alongside increasing rigor and relevance of courses, a priority.

College readiness is a statewide and national problem, Ben said in an interview last year. Decatur’s college readiness measures lower than its neighbors and is more comparable to the delta region or southeast Arkansas, he said. Low test scores have been tied to poverty and Decatur’s rateof students who qualify for free and reduced lunches is also comparable to those regions, he said.

“But we can do better,” he said emphatically.

Besides striving for rigor and relevance in the classroom, the school took several steps to improve ACT test scores last year.

Bryan Hembree, codirector of the University of Arkansas’ college access initiative, spoke to Decatur parents and students about ACT testing during a seminar last January. Then he returned for several more student sessions throughout the spring semester.

In January, Hembree explained that the ACT test is a curriculum test, not an intelligence test. The first step to scoring well is to take more difficult classes. Secondly, students should take the test multiple times, he said.

Decatur students who took the Smart Core classes in 2011 and 2012 outscored the state average.

“It’s those kids that waived the Smart Core track that struggle,” Cotter said.

In addition to Hembree’sseminars, the Decatur High School staff held after school ACT prep sessions for three weeks prior to each ACT test. The sessions were held for an hour and a half, three days a week, Cotter said.

There is a $35 fee to take the ACT test and taking the test more than once as Hembree recommends can create a financial strain on students. A group of Northwest Arkansas Community College students, led by Kayla Yates, held a bake sale to raise money to help pay for ACT testing fees last spring. State funds pay for all Decatur juniors to take the test once and students who are eligible for free and reduced lunches can apply for waivers, but the expense can still add up.

The school may have reaped some of the benefits of the ACT prep program in 2012, but Cotter expects to see more results this school year. By the time this year’s seniors graduate, they will have spent an additional year working on test prep.

In a school as small asDecatur, each student’s score accounts for 5 percent of the final average, so one student can swing the school’s average dramatically one way or another, Cotter said. It’s also difficult to compare one year’s test score to the next because each represents a different group of individuals.

Decatur High School’s new principal, Debra Coffer, has formed a professional learning committee of seven staff members, including Cotter, with the goal of improving test taking skills and building ACT, Benchmark and End ofCourse exam scores. The committee meets weekly to come up with ideas and activities to meet the goal.

Cotter said the committee would like to see all the school’s test scores at or above the state average, pointing out that some scores are already there.

Coffer said she was proud of the students’ achievements last year.

“With the collaborative effort of our teachers and staff this year, along with outstanding parental involvement, we are looking forward to even greater achievement this year,” she said.

News, Pages 3 on 09/05/2012