The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) announced another sign of education recovery from the pandemic this week.
The department says ACT participation among public school students is now back to pre-pandemic levels. In 2021, participation across the state sunk to 96%, but it has now risen to 98%. The 2018-19 graduating class is the last to have a participation rate that high.
This increase is especially noticeable for English-language learners who increased their participation in the higher education entrance exam by seven percentage points when compared to 2021 rates. Minority and economically disadvantaged students increased their participation by four percentage points.
“Tennessee remains committed to preparing each and every student for success beyond high school in the pathway of their choice,” said Commissioner Penny Schwinn. “Taking the ACT is an important gateway for many postsecondary opportunities and scholarships, and this year’s graduating class rebounded our state’s participation in the ACT to pre-pandemic levels—demonstrating the continued efforts by our districts, schools, teachers, and families to ensure our students are on a path to success.”
The ACT is a multiple-choice entrance exam used by most colleges and universities to make admissions decisions. Its purpose is to measure a high school student’s readiness for college, and provide colleges with data to compare all applicants.
Tennessee offers its students the opportunity to take the ACT twice for free during school hours, through an initiative called the ACT Senior Retake program. After a student takes the exam in the spring of their junior year, they are able to take the test again during the fall of their senior year to improve previous results. Fifty percent of students who retook their exam in 2021, increased their scores.
Additionally, in partnership with the University of Tennessee Martin, the department offers students and educators free ACT workshops to help students prepare for the exam.
TDOE says these measures helped improve participation rates among districts significantly. In the 2020-21 school year, 17 school districts had a 100% student participation rate, while that figure jumped to 29 districts in 2021-22. More than 125 districts had a participation rate of over 95% in 2021-22, expanding from 110 districts the previous year.
“We are always trying to improve our ACT scores, and we have much to celebrate this year. We are extremely proud of the work that both our students and teachers have put in to drive this high growth. Many of our students were able to significantly increase their scores this year, and we applaud them for this accomplishment,” said Dr. Cathy Beck, Director of Schools, Cheatham County Schools. “We are fortunate that the state of Tennessee has opportunities in place such as the free senior ACT retake and the free ACT prep workshops offered through the University of Tennessee at Martin to support and prepare students for the test.”
Student performance on the ACT remains largely unchanged from 2021 to 2022. TDOE says the state average composite ACT score was 19.1 among both the 2021 and 2022 graduating classes.
Williamson County Schools boasted the highest percentage of students (75%) to reach the ACT benchmark of 21, followed closely by Germantown Municipal School District (73%). The Alvin C. York Institute boasted the highest percentage increase between 2021-2022 of students to hit the benchmark, improving by 13 percentage points.
“We are very proud of the recent gains and successes our students made on the most recent ACT exam. The faculty did a tremendous job of not only preparing our students, but they also instilled ownership in our students,” said John Bush, Director of Schools, Alvin C. York Institute. “Our students understand that ACT success has real monetary value in scholarship earnings, increases their likelihood of being selected to their school of choice, and is a key indicator of success over multiple post-secondary pathways.”
