As ACT scores for the class of 2012 were released this week, a trend emerged in area school districts: A higher percentage of teens in Southwest Missouri are taking the ACT, but some schools experienced lower composite scores and saw fewer students scoring at or above the national average than in years past.

Many area school districts are above the national average score of 21.1 and hovering around the state average of 21.6.

The scores for the college entrance exam were released by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

In Joplin, the composite ACT score stayed the same as that of 2011, at 21.6. This year, 62.2 percent of Joplin’s 429 graduates took the ACT, the highest percentage of students in at least the past five years.

On the flip side, 31.2 percent of those who took the ACT scored at or above the national average, the lowest in the past five years.

“The additional students taking the ACT now are going to typically be kids who wouldn’t have been a college bound-type student before,” said Joplin Assistant Superintendent Angie Besendorfer.

“With more students taking it, the indication is very positive. More kids think they can get into college and do college-level work. Scores going down is to be expected because kids who thought they were going to get great ACT scores have always taken the ACT.”

Besendorfer said one hurdle for some students in the Joplin School District is the cost to take the ACT.

“We’ve seen a continuing trend of more students believing and continuing to take it,” she said. “One of the inhibitors is the students being able to pay for the ACT. Kids are coming from areas where financially mom and dad can’t pay for it. That inhibits some of our kids.”



CARL JUNCTION

The Carl Junction School District marked a higher percentage of graduates taking the ACT than in the past five years and saw its average composite score slip from 22 last year to 21.3, the lowest it has been in the past five years.

In 2012, 76.2 percent of 202 graduates took the test, with 36.6 percent of students scoring at or above the national average, a five-year low for the district. For the past five years, about 44 to 46 percent of students have scored that high.

“We are rather disappointed with scores this year,” said Kathy Tackett, assistant superintendent. “They are lower than we’re used to seeing. We have a higher percentage of kids taking the test than most of the area, and that’s a significant factor in that as well. We want kids to take the ACT.”



WEBB CITY

The Webb City School District posted the highest percentage of graduates taking the ACT among area districts. Eighty percent of 265 graduates took the test this year. The composite score for graduates was 20.0, the lowest it has been in the past five years.

Trey Moeller, assistant superintendent for instructional services, said that 20 or 30 years ago, most of the people taking the test were white males. As more and more groups of people have begun taking the test in more recent years — be it minorities, females or the socioeconomically disadvantaged — composite scores stagnate, but the scores within those groups steadily rise, he said.

“The mathematics of it — having such a large percentage of students that take it — if you look at the aggregate score, we’re not satisfied,” Moeller said. “We certainly want it to be better. But we know that’s one of the things that affects it when so many take it.”

The district wants as many students as possible to take the test and have the opportunities that come with the possibility of college, he said.

This year, 29.4 percent of students scored at or above the national average, down significantly from the past two years, when 35 percent (in 2010) and 36.9 percent (in 2011) of students scored that high.



CARTHAGE

This year, Carthage students’ composite score was 21.7, the highest it has been since 2008, when it was 22.0. This year’s composite score is just a hair above the state average. For 2012, 65.7 percent of Carthage’s 274 graduates took the ACT, with 32.5 percent of students scoring above the national average.

Kandy Frazier, principal at Carthage High School, said she was excited about this year’s scores.

“We are now above the state average, and we are very excited about the direction that it shows we are headed with our curriculum and our students,” she said.

The school is attributing some of the increase to changing the course order for math; with students taking Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 consecutively instead of the classes being separated by a year for geometry.

“Entrance exams are so important because they open so many doors,” Frazier said. “We like students to have the best scores by the end of their junior year.”



NEOSHO

In Neosho, 60.8 percent of 268 graduates took the ACT this year. The composite score was 21.4, a slight dip from last year’s 21.5 but fairly average for the past several years.

In 2011, 37.5 percent of Neosho graduates who took the ACT scored at or above the national average. This year, 29.5 percent of the test takers scored at or above the national average, the lowest rate of the past five years.



STATE FIGURES

According to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 49,222 of Missouri’s high school graduates, or about 75 percent of the class of 2012, took the test. The number of graduates who took the ACT has increased by 4.2 percent since 2008, while the number of graduates in Missouri has decreased by 4.4 percent.

Missouri’s composite score remained the same as last year’s, at 21.6. Missouri is ranked 26th nationally, according to the state department.

The ACT is taken by high school students for entrance into college. The scores range from 1 to 36. Students are tested in English, mathematics, reading and science. There also is an optional writing portion.



2012 ACT composite scores

Carl Junction    21.3

Carthage    21.7

Diamond    21.8

East Newton    21.6

Jasper    20.5

Joplin    21.6

Lamar    20.3

McDonald Co.    19.9

Neosho    21.4

Sarcoxie    19.5

Seneca    21.0

Webb City    20.0

Missouri    21.6

Nation    21.1

Source: Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education