ACT & SAT 2013 - SUMMARY
Prepared by:
Stephanie Homan
Rose-Ann McKernan
October 2013
Scores at a Glance
ACT
Of the 2013 seniors who have taken the ACT at some time during high school:
 22%
Met all four ACT College Readiness Benchmark Scores.
 32%
Met the ACT Science College Readiness Benchmark Score
 20.8% Who took at least three years of science coursework were college ready.
 38%
Met the ACT Math College Readiness Benchmark Score
 41%
Who took three or more years of math beyond Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry



42%
59%
20.6%
were college ready.
Met the ACT Reading College Readiness Benchmark Score
Met the ACT English College Readiness Benchmark Score
Took ‘Core or More’ courses in high school.
SAT
Scores on the 2013 administration showed:
 1.6% Decline in APS cohort’s mean Reading score since 2010.
Decline in APS cohort’s mean Writing score since 2010.
 3%
 4.2% Decline in APS cohort’s mean Math score since 2010.
 56% Reached the SAT benchmark of 1550 which indicates that they have a 65% or better
chance of earning a B- or higher for their first year GPA. This compares nationally
to 43% of students.
Introduction
Students elect to participate in one of the two commercial college readiness assessments: the ACT and the SAT. However, now
students may take the Accuplacer through CNM as an entrance exam for that institution. Students may enter CNM, and using only the
Accuplacer and college credits, ultimately transfer to most any 4-year institution. More students are taking the Accuplacer and this
option could have had an impact on participation but did not seem to this year.
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While considering the implications of the ACT and SAT for college readiness, it should be noted that both tests have limited
application to high school instructional planning. College entrance exams cannot be used as an assessment of the APS curriculum
because not all APS high school students take test these; those who do take them are assumed to be college-bound. The items on these
tests are not designed to measure a district’s high school curriculum. Although the ACT has aligned to the NM State Standards and are
in the process of alignment to the common core standards, the questions are designed to measure the application of analytical
reasoning for problem solving needed for successful college level study.
Participation
Over the last three years participation in ACT has steadily increased from 2989 to 3217. SAT participation has seen a net increase but
a one year decrease from 2012 to 2013. SAT participation is more governed by out-of-state college going that is participation in ACT.
Table 1. Percent of Graduating Class Having Taken College Entrance Exams During
High School
2010-11
2011-12
4711
4768
2012-13
N
%
N
%
N
%
ACT
2989
63
3164
66
3217
65
SAT
507
11
583
12
533
11
Senior Enrollment*
Sources: APS 40-day count, ACT Profile Report – District (Table 1.1) and SAT College-Bound Senior Profile (Table 1).
ACT
The majority of students seeking to enter a four-year institution in New Mexico take the ACT with 65% of APS 2013 seniors having
taken the ACT at some point during high school (n-3217). This percent has fluctuated from 63% to 66% of the senior class over the
past three years.
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Scores on the ACT in English, Math, Reading and Science are reported on a scale of 1 to 36. Writing has been added as an optional
test and is scored on a scale of 1 to 6.
Since 2005-06 APS’ composite score has been higher than New Mexico and slightly lower than the national average. The last three
years are shown below and follow this same trend.
Figure 1 - ACT Composite Scores for the Nation, New Mexico, and APS
22
21.5
21.1
21.1
ACT Scores (avg.)
21
20.9
20.8
20.5
20.5
20
20.3
19.8
19.9
19.9
Nation
NM
APS
19.5
19
18.5
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
ACT reports scores for students who indicate they have taken a core curriculum and those who have not. ACT defines a core
curriculum as four years of English and three years each of social studies, math, and natural sciences. According to the ACT profile
report for the graduating class of 2013, 91% of the 3217 who answered the question reported taking a course of study that would be
considered a core curriculum by the ACT definition. As would be expected, students who report having taken a core curriculum
consistently out-perform students who may have taken a less rigorous course of study.
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Figure 2 – Average ACT Scores by Level of Academic Preparation
25.0
21.1 21.1 21.420.8
20.4
20.0
18.9 19.0
19.5
20.7 20.7 21.120.6
19.8
18.4 18.6 18.818.4
17.4
18.418.2
20.6 20.8
18.7
21.2
20.4
19.7
19.0 19.4
18.3
17.6
Composite
15.0
Science
Reading
10.0
Math
English
5.0
0.0
<Core
Core
2010-11
<Core
Core
2011-12
<Core
Core
2012-13
ACT sets a score in each area to indicate the level at which a student must score in order to be assured relative success in credit
bearing courses their first year of college. These benchmark scores are listed in the table below and the following graph shows the
percent students in APS, New Mexico, and Nation who reached the benchmark scores.
Table 2. ACT College Readiness Benchmark Scores
College Course/Course Area ACT Test
Benchmark Score
English Composition
English
18
Algebra
Mathematics
22
Social Studies (Reading)
Reading
22
Biology
Science
23
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Figure 3 - Percent of Students Meeting Benchmark in APS, New Mexico and Nation
80
70
Percent Meeting Benchmark
60
64
59
56
50
44
38
40
44
42
38
33
36
32
30
APS
29
26
22
20
19
NM
Nation
10
0
English
Composition
(Benchmark =
18)
College Algebra
(Benchmark =
22)
College Social
Science
(Benchmark =
22)
College Biology
(Benchmark =
23)
Meeting All 4
Benchmark
Scores
APS average ACT scores vary widely by ethnic groups. It should be noted that the participation numbers also vary widely for these
different ethnic groups with as few as 100 American Indian or Asian students participating to as many as 1801 Hispanic students and
900 Caucasian students. Ethnicity on the ACT is self-report and 6% of our students either did not report an ethnicity or selected Other
as their ethnic status.
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When compared to the national averages for each ethnic group APS students tend to score at or above the national average for that
group. However, wide differences are still found among the different groups within our district, ranging from a high of 23.1 on the
composite for Caucasians and a low of 18 for American Indians.
Figure 4 – 2013 ACT Average Scores by Ethnic Groups for APS, State, and Nation
36
31
26
21
22.2 22.4
18
16.7
23.5
23.1 22.5 22.2
18.6 18.7
18
21.4 20.9 20.7
19 18.9 18.8
APS
16.9
16
State
11
Nation
6
1
American Indian
Asian
Black
Hispanic
Caucasian
Other No
Response
Table 3 – Participation by Ethnic Group for the Past Three Years
2011
97
2012
103
2013
59
Asian
99
110
86
Black
78
89
76
Hispanic
1419
1631
1801
Caucasian
982
935
900
5
2
7
Two or More
109
118
106
Other/No Response
200
294
182
American Indian
Pacific Islander
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Figure 5 - ACT Scores for Ethnic Groups for Three Years
32
27
2011
23.4 23.1 23.1
22.2
21.8
22
21.8 21.7
21.2
20.5
18.8
21.6
21.2 21.4
20.1
18.4
17.9 18
22.2
18.8 18.6
20.8 20.5 20.5
21.1 21.1 20.9
2012
2013
19.8 19.9 19.9
19.1 19.1 19
17
15
12
American Indian
(59)
Asian (86)
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Black (76)
Hispanic (1801) Caucasian (900) Pacific Islander
(7)
Two or more
(106)
Other/No
Response (182)
District
NM
Nation
(N)
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SAT
Over the last five years participation in SAT has increased but, it has fluctuated the last 3 going from 507 up to 583 and down to 533
this past year. This represents 11% of the senior class of 2013. Slightly more seniors take the SAT than do juniors. SAT takers tend
to be students with plans well underway to attend out of state colleges.
Scores on the SAT are reported on a scale of 200 to 800 with 500 as the mean score. Typically APS students score at or higher than
the national average on reading, math and writing. When APS SAT takers are compared to the state, scores are the same in reading
and slightly lower in math and writing.
Figure 6 - SAT 2013 READING scores APS, State, and Nation
800
700
600
555
548
546
550
497
500
550
550
496
496
APS
State
Nation
400
300
200
2011
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2012
2013
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800
Figure 7 – SAT 2013 MATH
Scores for APS, State, and Nation
700
600
552
541
551
546
544
545
APS
500
State
Nation
400
300
200
2011
2012
2013
800
Figure 8 - SAT 2013 WRITING
Scores for APS, State and Nation
700
600
534
529
528
529
522
531
500
APS
State
Nation
400
300
200
2011
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2012
2013
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By ethnic group, APS has very diverse numbers of participation; ranging from a low of 14 American Indian students to a high of 262
white students. Ethnicity is self-reported and includes Hispanic/Latino, Puerto Rican, and Mexican as separate categories.
In reading, all ethnic groups score higher than the national average for 2013 with one exception: African American students; the same
is true in math. In writing, American Indian, African American and students who marked ‘Other’ do not reach the national average.
A three year trend for all ethnic groups is found in Appendix A.
Figure 9- SAT 2013 Scores by Ethnic Groups for APS
700
606
600
572
582
554 543
533
551
493
500
460
435
472
568
542
502 500
488
485
557
539
514
486
548
505
429
400
Reading
Math
300
Writing
200
100
0
American Indian
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Asian
Black
Mexican
Hispanic
White
Other
No Response
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Figure 10 – SAT 2013 Composite Score by Ethnic Group for APS, Nation and State
2000
1900
1800
1729
1700
1712
1692
1645
1600
1500
1400
1450
1665
1623
1576
1551
1445
1427
1687
1630
1490
1472
1610
1539
1501
1521
APS
1409
1324
1353
1354
Mexican
Hispanic
Nation
State
1278
1300
1200
1100
1000
American Indian
Asian
Black
White
Other
No Response
College Board established benchmark scores for SAT to measure college readiness. A score of 1550 gives a student a 65% probability
of obtaining a first year GPA of B- or higher. This first year GPA is associated with a high likelihood of college success.
The APS composite score of 1616 represents a 70% probability of students obtaining a B- or better; slightly higher than the national
average. The average composite score for each ethnic group in APS is presented in Figure 11.
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1700
Figure 11- SAT 2013 Composite Score for APS, State, and Nation
1650
1641
1625 1625
1618
1616
1626
1600
APS
1550
State
1500
1498
1500
1498
Nation
1450
1400
2011
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2012
2013
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2000
1729
1800
Figure 12 - Percent of APS Students by
Ethnic Group Meeting the SAT Benchmark
in 2013
1600
1400
1692
1630
1539
1490
1450
1610
1550 Benchmark
1324
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
American
Indian
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Asian
Black
Mexican
Hispanic
White
Other
No
Response
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