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Hispanic ACT Test-Takers Up 16 Percent
College Readiness Rates Stable
The number of 2009 Hispanic high school graduates who took the ACT® increased to an all-time high of nearly 134,000 graduates—a 16 percent increase over 2008 and a dramatic 60 percent increase since 2005. But for the third year in a row, only one in ten meets all four of ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks.
A record number of Hispanic high school graduates took the ACT in 2009.
Growing Numbers of Hispanic Test-takers
The increase comes, in part, from nearly universal ACT statewide testing in five states—Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, and Wyoming—which recorded a 10.8 percent increase in Hispanic ACT-tested graduates over the past year. More substantial increases came in states with traditionally higher Hispanic populations—Arizona, California, Florida, New Mexico, New York, and Texas—which experienced a 19.4 percent increase in the number of tested 2009 Hispanic graduates. In 2008, more than 114,000 Hispanic high school graduates took the ACT.
Over the past several years, the total population of ACT test-takers has grown substantially. Nearly 1.5 million high school graduates in 2009—45 percent of the national graduating class, up from 43 percent last year—took the ACT, another all-time record number. The total number of ACT-tested graduates has grown by 25 percent since 2005, increasing by 4 percent this year, compared to last, even as the total number of graduates declined nationally.
Average ACT Scores
While the national average ACT Composite score for all 2009 graduates was 21.1—unchanged from 2008 and 0.2 point higher than in 2005—the national average ACT Composite score for Hispanic 2009 graduates was 18.7, unchanged from 2008. This score remains at the record high first reached in 2007. The ACT is scored on a scale of 1 to 36, with 36 being the highest possible score.
Average scores of Hispanic students on the four subject area tests were: English—17.7; mathematics—19.1; reading—18.9; and science—18.8. The average math and science scores were 0.1 point higher than in 2008, while the other two scores remained unchanged from last year.
College Readiness of Hispanic Students
The findings show that among Hispanic ACT-tested 2009 graduates, only 48 percent (down 1 percent from 2008) meet or exceed the ACT benchmark score in English; 27 percent (up 1 percent from 2008) for college-level math; 35 percent (unchanged from 2008) for reading; and just 13 percent (unchanged) for college-level science. Just 10 percent of Hispanic test-takers are college ready in all four subjects.
Challenges
While the significant increase of Hispanic students who take the ACT is encouraging, findings suggest there is still considerable room for improvement. Despite the record growth in Hispanic test-takers, college readiness skills among Hispanics remained the same for the third year in a row.
The large majority of Hispanic high school graduates continue to lack at least some of the academic skills they will need to succeed in first-year college coursework. ACT’s findings reaffirm the need for school districts and states to focus more attention on college and career readiness for the nation’s Hispanic students.
