ACT composite below state average but improving

SIKESTON -- Sikeston High School students who took the ACT exam during the 2011-2012 school year scored just below the state average but showed gains from the previous year.

During Tuesday's regular Sikeston R-6 Board of Education meeting, high school academic leader principal Shannon Holifield provided members with the 2011-2012 ACT results. Holifield said 157 Sikeston students took the ACT, which is 15 less students than last year.

Sikeston's ACT average for the graduates was 20.3, which was two-tenths of a point higher than last year but lower than the state composite score of 21.6.

Of the 152 SHS students who took the ACT, the composite for the 96 white students who took the test was 21.7 -- up two-tenths of a point from 2011 -- while the 43 black students who took the exam averaged a score of 16.5 -- up three-tenths of a point from the previous year. There were 13 students who fell into the "other" category and had an average of 18.4, which was down 2.4 points from the previous year.

Holifield said the reason for the drop in the "other" category was because in 2011 there was one student who achieved a really high score.

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