Racine Unified high school students' ACT scores increased this year, according to data released Wednesday by the district.
Four of the district's five schools posted increases on the standardized test taken by students planning to attend college. The REAL School led the way with a 3-point increase in its students' scores. Horlick posted a 0.5 point increase in average scores, while Walden posted a 0.4 point increase and Park a 0.2 point increase. Case's scores fell 0.3 points, on average.
The REAL School, Walden and Horlick all test above the national average for ACT scores, and Walden and REAL School each test above the state average.
The average Unified ACT score for the 2010 graduation class was 20.8, up from 20.5 in 2009.
“We are extremely pleased with the improvements we see almost across the board at our high schools,” said RUSD Superintendent Jim Shaw in a prepared statement. “However, one year is not a trend. We must continue our efforts. We have the capacity to continue to improve and we must in order to ensure our students are prepared for college or a career.”
The ACT is a curriculum-based measure of college readiness. Components of the test include tests of academic achievement in English, math, reading and science.
Over the past few years, the Racine Unified school instructional staff has taken a proactive approach to help prepare students for the ACT test. Students have the opportunity to participate in the District’s Online Pre-ACT Prep Program and several students have participated in the District’s ACT Summer School Prep Class. District staff is also working to encourage students to take more advanced and challenging coursework to better prepare them for college and/or career.
“What we’re especially encouraged to see is that based on our North Star District Scorecard, we met our improvement goals for white, black and Hispanic students,” said Shaw. “We know we have a significant achievement gap to address and we’ve got to make more progress, but we’re headed in the right direction.”
Racine Unified will raise the bar on the District Scorecard again next year. “Now that we’ve met the 2010 goals, we’ll set the bar higher for 2011. The ultimate goal is the North Star. We owe it to our students to challenge and motivate them to reach higher and exceed their own expectations.”
Let's hear what % of students took the ACT - I'm betting less than 25% to 30%, as opposed to the private schools where 95% plus take it. So you can pat yourselves on the back, but the bottom line is RUSD continues to be far inferior to private schools.
ReplyDeleteYou cannot just blame the public school system and teachers. My daughter attended Park and got a 31 overall (35 in science). It is all a matter of applying yourself and taking advantage of the resources offered. Unfortunately, not all public school attendees have a support system to encourage them. Most private school families aren't going to let their hard earned dollars go to waste.
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