ACT college-entrance exam results were mixed for the recently graduated Class of 2015 in Pulaski County's three public school districts, while the average score at the state's only residential school for gifted juniors and seniors reached a record high.
The college entrance exam is the most widely used admissions test in the state. Ninety-three percent of the members of the class took the test at least once. The test is used for college-admission and scholarship-eligibility decisions, as well as to determine who must take noncredit remedial college courses.
The Little Rock School District's average composite score for its five high schools was 19.0 on a scale of 1 to 36 for the 1,313 members of the 2015 class. That composite score -- consisting of the English, reading, math and science test scores -- was improved from 18.9 in 2014 and 18.3 in 2013.
The composite score at Central was 22.3, which was above the state average of 20.4 and the national average of 21. Parkview Magnet High's composite was 19.6, a drop from 20.1 the previous year.
The Hall High composite was 15.6, the same as the previous year. J.A. Fair High had a composite of 15.6, down from 16.1 the previous year. McClellan High's composite was 15.1, which was a drop from 15.4 the year before. Hall, Fair and McClellan are classified by the state as academically distressed and, as such, contributed to the state takeover of the Little Rock district this past January.
The Pulaski County Special School District's average composite was 19 for the 779 members of the 2015 class who took the exam. That was down from 19.5 the previous year.
The individual schools and their composite scores were Mills University Studies High, 19.6, down from 20.2 in 2014; Maumelle High, 19.5, down from 20; Sylvan Hills High, 19.5, down from 20.2; Jacksonville High, 17.6, up from 17.3; North Pulaski High, 18.8, down from 19.1; and Robinson High, 18.6, down from 20 the year in 2014 and 19.3 in 2013.
In North Little Rock School District, the average composite score was 19.9 for the 362 test-takers in the Class of 2015. That was down from 20.8 in 2014.
The composite ACT score of 29.8 for the Class of 2015 at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts in Hot Springs was the highest in the school's 23-year history, school officials said.
The Class of 2014 earned the previous high of 29.4.
The math and science school is a taxpayer-supported residential school for juniors and seniors from across the state.
Most of the students take the ACT as sophomores as part of the process of enrolling for the school, and they take the test again in March of their junior year. The Class of 2015 entered the school with an average composite of 25.6, then increased that by 4.2 points.
Metro on 08/28/2015