- Improving College & Career Readiness
- About This Report
- College Readiness
- Educational/Career Aspirations
- Access & Preparation
- Academic Performance
- A First Look at STEM
- Looking Back at the Class of 2012
- Academic Achievement & Academic Behaviors
- Policies & Practices to Increase Readiness
- 2013 ACT National and State Scores
ACT Scores Over Time by Level of High School Preparation
For each year from 2009 to 2013, ACT Composite and subject scores were higher for students who took a core curriculum or more in high school than for students who did not.
On average, high school graduates who completed at least a core curriculum earned ACT Composite test scores 2.7 to 3.1 points higher than the scores of students who did not take a core curriculum. Similar ranges of higher scores for core or more curriculum completers are noted for each subject test: English (3.0 to 3.5 points), Reading (2.6 to 3.0), Mathematics (2.7 to 3.0), and Science (2.5 to 2.7).
Average ACT Scores by Core Curriculum Completion Status, 2009–2013
Graph reads: Between 2009 and 2013, the average ACT Reading score for high school graduates who had completed or had planned to complete at least a core curriculum dipped slightly but was higher and dipped less than that of graduates who had not completed or had not planned to complete a core curriculum.