Information Brief 2013-20
Social Sciences Courses Taken and ACT College Readiness Benchmark Performance in Reading
As part of a core curriculum, ACT recommends that students complete three or more years of social sciences courses. Seventy-five percent of 2012 ACT-tested high school graduates took at least three years of social sciences courses.
A greater percentage of students who took three years of history met the ACT College Readiness Benchmark in Reading (44% who completed US history, world history, and American government, and 51% who completed some other combination of three or three-and-a-half years) compared to those with less than three years of history(40%).
However, students who completed at least four years of history had the highest Benchmark performance: 59% of students who completed history, world history, American history, and another history and 56% of students who took some other combination of four years or more of history.
Percent Meeting the Reading Benchmark by Social Sciences Courses Taken
| Social Sciences Courses | Students Meeting Reading Benchmark |
|---|---|
| History, world history, American history, and other history | 59% |
| Other combination of 4 or more years | 56% |
| US history, world history, and American government | 44% |
| Other combination of 3 or 3.5 years | 51% |
| Less than 3 years | 40% |
| No years reported | 29% |
Note: Data are based on 1,666,017 ACT-tested 2012 high school graduates.
High School Social Sciences Courses Taken for 2012 ACT-Tested High School Graduates
Information Brief 2013-20 in PDF
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