SCORE Statement on the 2015 ACT Results

The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) has released the following statement from President and CEO Jamie Woodson about the 2015 ACT results for Tennessee. Tennessee students have shown steady improvement on the ACT college and career readiness measure since 2011, and their gains have outpaced the national trend for four years straight. The state is poised for continued strong growth, as indicated by the significant number of Tennessee students who fell just a point or two short of the English, reading, math, and science benchmarks. Clearly Tennessee is moving in the right direction, yet considerable ground remains to be covered. Only one in five graduates – one in six public school graduates – reached the level needed for success in higher education and work. The composite ACT score for public school students rose again but remains below the national average, and there are troubling achievement gaps for disadvantaged students in Tennessee. The ACT results are another sign that Tennessee and our educators have made good decisions in improving student achievement and now need to spread what is working farther and faster. More high school students need additional rigorous courses, such as advanced English and math, while more middle school students need science and math classes that prepare them for high school STEM, and more elementary students need strong reading and literacy instruction that builds the foundation for all later learning.