Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley
The composite ACT scores among Louisiana high school students fell for the fifth year in a row. The Class of 2022 score was 18-point-one down from 18-point-four last year. State Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley said he believes it’s mostly pandemic related.
“These students were 10th graders taking things like Algebra II, Geometry, English II when the pandemic closed their schools, and then of course the next couple of years were interrupted,” said Brumley.
The national average also dropped to 19-point-eight, down from 20-point-three. It’s the first time the national average has been below twenty since 1991. Brumley said the department is hoping to address the drop in scores with their high school accountability proposal that’s on the table. He said there needs to be an emphasis on the ACT because in Louisiana it is the gatekeeper for TOPS and college scholarships.
“While we know that the ACT score has fallen for at least five years, we’re seeing this as part of a national trend,” said Brumley.
Because state scores have steadily declined for the last five years Brumley said it’s concerning because the decline pre-dates the pandemic.
“Such as our need to really look at basic literacy skills that we’re trying to do here in our state, but also foundational math skills that are also needed in our state and across the country,” said Brumley.
Louisiana students performed better on the ACT than four other states in the country, Alabama, Mississippi, Nevada, and Oklahoma.
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