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Minnesota students lead nation in ACT

MARSHALL — As test scores were released recently, the Marshall Public School District found itself exceeding the state average in all five areas on the ACT college entrance exam — a measure that Minnesota has consistently led for more than a decade.

In a news release, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton revealed that Minnesota students once again led the nation on ACT scores, with an average composite score of 21.5, compared to the national average of 21. A perfect score is 36.

Minnesota students ranked first among the 17 states that gave the test to all graduating students — a total of 61,101 Minnesota students in the Class of 2017 took the test. More than 2 million students from across the county took the test, accounting for 60 percent of the entire U.S. graduating class.

“It seems the biggest reason students take the ACT is for college entrance and for potential scholarships, or at least that is my understanding,” Marshall Superintendent Scott Monson said. “It is exciting to recognize that Minnesota was at or near the top in ACT scores again for the Class of 2017 and to know that our students contributed to this ranking.”

Marshall students — from Marshall High School and MATEC — recorded a composite ACT score of 21.9, which is above the state and national averages.

“We strive for our students to do better on the ACT than the state average, so we were pleased to receive these results, especially since we were .4 point above the state on the composite score and outpaced the state in all areas,” Monson said.

Marshall scored a 20.5 compared to the state average of 20.4 in English, a 22.1 in comparison to the state’s 21.8 in reading and a 22.1 compared to the state’s 21.6 in science. Marshall was also a full point ahead of the state average (21.5) with a math score of 22.5.

“With few exceptions, our students have typically scored at or above the state average in all five areas, including composite,” Monson said. “We have an ACT Prep Day that all juniors who anticipate taking the ACT are encouraged to participate in. We conduct this at SMSU (Southwest Minnesota State University) with neighboring school districts who are part of our Achievement and Integration Collaborative. This has been beneficial, I think, for our juniors.”

The number of students who took the ACT fell from a year ago.

“The ACT was mandated for the state for the Class of 2016,” Monson said. “We had 193 students from that class take the ACT. Since it is no longer mandated, there were 166 students from last year’s graduating class who took the ACT.”

Along with the high achievement overall, there was more good news to report as all measured student groups in Minnesota also increased their ACT scores this year. The news release showed that African American students, Hispanic students and Pacific Islander students increased average scores by .5 points.

“Congratulations to Minnesota students, teachers, school board and administrators on this tremendous achievement,” Dayton said. “Ranking No. 1 in the nation confirms the overall qualify of our state’s public education system.”

The percentage of Minnesota students who met each of the four benchmarks — English, reading, math and science — was 31 percent, compared to the national average of 27 percent.

“Minnesota students continue to lead the nation on the ACT test, with all students groups showing improvement this year,” Lt. Gov. Tina Smith said in the news release. “This is great news, especially since Minnesota is one of only a handful of states that makes the ACT available to all students. I am very proud of our hard-working students, excellent educators and great schools.”

Smith added that the effort needs to continue.

“We also know we need to keep improving, and close opportunity gaps, so that Minnesota schools work well for all of our students,” she said.

Among states that give the ACT test to more than half of their students, Minnesota ranks fifth in the nation.

“I am extremely proud of our students, educators, families, support staff and everyone else helping students reach this importance entrance point to their career and college goals,” Minnesota Department of Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius said. “But the ACT is one more reminder of the work we have left to do to make sure every single student in Minnesota is given the opportunity to reach their career and college aspirations. Educators are working toward this goal every day, and we will keep working to improve equity in our students until we see gaps shrinking everywhere.”

Along with Marshall, Dawson-Boyd (22) and Murray County Central (21.7) test scores exceeded the state average composite score (21.5).

Three area schools scored near the state average composite. Red Rock Central and Russell-Tyler-Ruthton recorded 21.3 composite scores, while Wabasso students posted an average composite score of 21.1. Canby produced a score of 21.

Minneota’s 2017 average composite score was 20.8, followed by Yellow Medicine East (20.5), Tracy Area (20.4), Lakeview (20) and Westbrook-Walnut Grove (19.6).

ACT scores from schools that do not have juniors — or in some cases, do not have more than 10 juniors who took the exam — were not reported.

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