While many states are now starting to require that students take a core set of courses, such as four years of English and three years of math and science, the content and teaching of these core courses is not consistently at the same level of quality. This means that even when some students attain high grades in some core courses, they still are not ready for college and work.
There are schools that are succeeding. In a sample of 382 high schools currently offering rigorous core courses, there is improved student achievement and improved readiness for college.
ACT College Readiness Benchmark Attainment by Number of Benchmarks Attained (2006 High School Graduates, 2006 Students from Rigorous High Schools)*
* Based on 1,206,455 (All ACT-tested) and 110,362 (Rigorous Schools) high school students who took the ACT and indicated that they would graduate from high school in 2006.
On average, students from these rigorous schools improved their ACT scores dramatically more than students at other schools that offered the same core courses:
- Algebra II: Improved ACT Mathematics scores 4.2 points (21.6 vs 17.4) while all ACT-tested who took Algebra II improved 2.1 points (19.1 vs 17.0)
- Chemistry: Improved ACT Science scores 4.0 points (22.3 vs 18.3) while all ACT-tested who took Chemistry improved 2.4 points (21.0 vs 18.6)
These high schools are proving every day that core courses can be made rigorous and that rigorous content can be effectively taught to and learned by students. How can other high schools achieve the same success? QualityCore®, ACT's new high school instructional improvement program, combines teacher resources with student achievement data to ensure the quality, consistency, and rigor of high school core courses.