Fact-checking Rounds on ACT scores

By David Montgomery
Published/Last Modified on Tuesday, Jan 12, 2010 - 02:15:15 pm CST

One surprising claim Gov. Mike Rounds made in his State of the State address is that South Dakota's ACT scores are better than any other state with the same or higher number of students taking the ACT test.

"In the 11 states where at least 74 percent of students take the ACT test, South Dakota students have the highest composite score," Rounds said.

But is it true?

Rounds is correct that the highest composite scores are in states where only a small percentage of students take the test. Massachusetts, for example, leads the nation with an average composite score of 23.9 (out of 36) — but only 18 percent of high school graduates took the test. Those 18 percent are likely ambitious students who definitely plan to go to college, because they opt into the test.

So it's not a surprise that South Dakota, where 74 percent of students take the ACT, has a lower composite score — 22.0.

But is Rounds correct to imply that South Dakota can be described as having the best score in the nation?

His statement is, strictly speaking, correct. No state with 74 percent or more of its students taking the ACT has a higher composite score than South Dakota's.

But 74 percent could be seen as a somewhat arbitrary cutoff. If you expand the sample a little bit to include other high-percentage states, South Dakota falls away from the top — although we're still in good shape.

For example, Nebraska has a 22.1 with 72 percent of students taking the test. Wisconsin, with 67 percent of students taking the ACT, averages 22.3. Minnesota has a 22.7 with 68 percent taking the test.

So if you set the cutoff at 70 percent, South Dakota's #2. If you set it at 65 percent, South Dakota is #4. There's 21 states (by my quick count here) with at least 65 percent of students taking the test. So South Dakota is #4 out of 21.

There's 11 states with more 74 percent or more taking it, the same as South Dakota. We're number one in that category, as Rounds said.

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Comments

6 comment(s)

To to Riggs wrote on Feb 4, 2010 8:22 AM:

" The administrators in the schools rank below the administrators in the state thats for sure! I've seen on the state web site, opensd.org what some of the administrators make for the state! Unreal...and some of these are my friends and they tell me how little they actually do all day! They tell me its the lower paid state employee's that do all the work, and they get the credit and benefits! You wanted answers...you got answers! Though i'm sure you won't like them! :) "

to Riggs wrote on Feb 3, 2010 12:28 PM:

" If state workers rank 44th in pay in the country, and I believe teachers in SD rank last in teacher pay, where do SD administrators rank in pay in our country? "

Riggs wrote on Jan 22, 2010 11:20 PM:

" Last i looked we only have about 5% test and we were 3rd or 4th..in rank..I believe our children get a great Education it is to bad our teachers are paid so poorly...The state workers are paid 44th I feel every teacher should be paid at least 44th but their results should maybe be in the top 20. I have read that we have a difficult time getting our young teachers to stay in state. A few yrs back we lost a young teaching family to Wyoming, they said they would make almost $30,000 more. "

David Montgomery wrote on Jan 13, 2010 5:02 PM:

" Lance-- yeah, I went to high school in Illinois, where everyone took the ACT. The only people who took the SAT were people applying to East Coast or West Coast colleges. In non-Midwestern states, as you said, the SAT was more common; I had many classmates at Grinnell College in Iowa (which despite being Midwestern had a fair number of coastal students) who never took the ACT. "

Lance Hildebrandt wrote on Jan 12, 2010 7:23 PM:

" David,

Being in college I think I can shed some light on this topic. Many states do not take an ACT test at all. This is because they believe stronger in the SAT exam. Many East Coast schools require SAT score (not ACT) to be sent in with applications. "

caheidelberger wrote on Jan 12, 2010 6:15 PM:

" Good work on the numbers, David! I'll bet our neighbors in Nebraska and Minnesota would have something to say about that arbitrary cut-off. "

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