Graduating Class Trends

Data Visualization Instructions

Data Visualization Tool

Contents

ACT has collected and reported data on students’ academic readiness since 1959. This interactive tool contains information for ACT-tested high school graduating seniors from 2014 through 2023—more than 20 million students—and will allow users to quickly view state and national trends across multiple dimensions and outcomes.

Instructions and Definitions

The tool contains two views, or data visualization options, for exploring the data. Users can move between the views using the tabs provided at the top.

  1. Class Composition/Makeup view shows distributional trends, or percentages, of students falling into specific subgroups, which the user selects.

  2. Class Averages and Benchmark Percents view provides a look at student achievement over time, by user-selected characteristics and subgroup populations.

For either of these views, users have the option to filter content by state/national, student characteristic, and STEM-interest (one per category). For the Class Averages view, users can also select one academic achievement indicator.

For information about accessing this tool using a keyboard, please see Tableau's help page for keyboard navigation.

Student Characteristic/Subgroup Definitions

 

Student Characteristic/Subgroup

Definition

College Preparatory Core Coursework

Took at least 4 years of English and 3 years each of math, social science, and natural science

English Courses Taken/Planned

Common English courses identified as having been taken, are currently taking, or plan to take

Family Income

Annual family income

First Generation

No parental college education attained

Gender

Male, female, or no response

Highest Parental Education Level

Highest education level attained by parents/caregivers

Low Income

Annual family income at or below $36,000

Math Courses Taken/Planned

Common math courses identified as having been taken, are currently taking, or plan to take

Met English-Specific Core

Met core English requirement; regardless of other courses

Met Math-Specific Core

Met core math requirement; regardless of other courses

Met Natural Science-Specific Core

Met core natural science requirement; regardless of other courses

Met Social Science-Specific Core

Met core social science requirement; regardless of other courses

Minority

African American, American Indian, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, or Other

Natural Science Courses Taken/Planned

Common natural science courses identified as having been taken, are currently taking, or plan to take

Number of Benchmarks Met

Tally of number of English, math, reading, and science benchmarks met; excludes STEM and ELA

Number of Underserved Criteria Met

Tally of underserved criterion met

Percent Tested

Percentage of ACT-tested graduates; reported overall for the state or national level, depending on user selection

Post-Secondary Aspirations

Postsecondary education level to which students aspire

Race/Ethnicity

Race/Ethnicity

Social Science Courses Taken/Planned

Common social science courses identified as having been taken, are currently taking, or plan to take

STEM Interested

Expressed intent to pursue a STEM-related major/occupation and/or measured interest, based on ACT Interest Inventory scores

Underserved Status

Met minority, first generation, or low-income criterion

Academic Achievement Definitions

 

Academic Achievement

Definition

Average ACT Composite

Average ACT Composite score

Average ACT ELA

Average ACT ELA score

Average ACT English

Average ACT English scale score

Average ACT Math

Average ACT mathematics scale score

Average ACT Reading

Average ACT reading scale score

Average ACT Science

Average ACT science scale score

Average ACT STEM

Average ACT STEM score

Average Writing

Average ACT writing score; due to a writing test design enhancement, trends only go back to 2016

Percent Meeting All Four Benchmarks

Percentage of graduates meeting English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science Benchmarks

Percent Meeting English Benchmark

Percentage of graduates with English scale scores at or above 18

Percent Meeting Mathematics Benchmark

Percentage of graduates with math scale scores at or above 22

Percent Meeting Reading Benchmark

From 2013 forward, percentage of graduates with reading scale scores at or above 22; Prior to 2013, a value of 21 was used

Percent Meeting Science Benchmark

From 2013 forward, percentage of graduates with science scale scores at or above 23; Prior to 2013, a value of 24 was used