Summary

The table below compares average ACT scores for students who reported they completed or planned to complete the recommended core college-preparatory curriculum with those who had not. Please note that state departments of education may have a different definition of the college preparatory courses and may, therefore, publish reports showing slightly different data.

Average ACT scores by level of academic preparation

	Those with Core or More						Those with Less than Core
Reference Year	Number	Eng	Math	Rdng	Sci	Comp.	Number	Eng	Math	Rdng	Sci	Comp.
1995-96	542136	21.5	21.5	22.5	22.1	22.0	354733	18.6	18.4	19.7	19.6	19.2
1996-97	566141	21.5	21.8	22.5	22.1	22.1	361947	18.6	18.7	19.7	19.6	19.3
1997-98	606406	21.5	22.0	22.4	22.0	22.1	354306	18.6	18.9	19.7	19.6	19.3
1998-99	615545	21.6	21.8	22.4	21.9	22.0	367537	18.7	18.9	19.8	19.6	19.4
1999-00	645513	21.5	21.8	22.4	21.8	22.0	376645	18.8	19.0	19.8	19.7	19.5

Below are listed the summary statistics for all ACT-tested graduates on all five scores.

Average ACT scores for total group

Reference Year	Number	English	Mathematics	Reading	Science Reasoning	Composite
1995-96	924663	20.3	20.2	21.3	21.1	20.9
1996-97	959301	20.3	20.6	21.3	21.1	21.0
1997-98	995039	20.4	20.8	21.4	21.1	21.0
1998-99	1019053	20.5	20.7	21.4	21.0	21.0
1999-00	1065138	20.5	20.7	21.4	21.0	21.0

Below are listed the ACT quartile values for all 2000 ACT-tested graduates on all five scores.

ACT quartile values*

Quartile*	English	Mathematics	Reading	Science Reasoning	Composite
Q3 (75th percentile)	24.3	24.4	25.7	23.9	24.3
Q2 (50th percentile - median)	20.3	19.7	21.1	20.8	20.7
Q1 (25th percentile)	16.5	16.8	16.8	17.9	17.5

*The quartile values are interpolated and are based upon calculated student percentile ranks that may differ from the cumulative percentages reported in the frequency distribution tables in the High School Profile Report.

Return to Selections from the 2000 National Score Report