ACT scores should be sobering news to city

How many original members of the Class of 2009 in Springfield left high school demonstrating that they were academically prepared for college?

A. More than 80 percent.

B. Between 50 and 79 percent.

C. Between 20 and 49 percent.

D. Fewer than 20 percent.

The answer is D, based on the 2009 ACT, the widely used college admission exam. That's right. According to ACT benchmarks, fewer than one in five Springfield students who started high school four years ago this fall has the scholastic abilities necessary for a roughly 75 percent chance of earning a C grade or higher in freshman-year college math, English and science courses.

Do you doubt that so many kids go through Springfield Public Schools -- which on its Web site claims a reputation for "academic excellence" -- and exit lacking the college-level skills vital in the 21st century?

Let's do the math:

Begin by factoring in that Springfield has a roughly 18 percent dropout rate per high school class, so subtract approximately 300 warm bodies from the initial Class of 2009 enrollment.

District figures show that 1,049 students out of 1,673 graduates took the ACT. Their composite score was 22.5 out of a possible 36. Based on ACT performance criteria, that means only around 30 percent of those tested scored well enough to be considered competent for college.

Thus, of the original Class of 2009 cohort of roughly 1,973 students, around 315 proved on the ACT that they are equipped for college. Even generously adjusting for kids who took only the rival SAT and those who didn't take the ACT but could have hit the benchmarks if they had, it's impossible to get Springfield's college-ready rate anywhere near an acceptable level.

The reaction to the latest ACT scores, a four-tenths-point drop from 2008, by Springfield school officials? From an administration accustomed to denying any fundamental problems within city schools, a predictable "What me worry?"

"We are pleased to see that our performance continues to be above state and national averages," Dr. Matt Goodman, director of quality improvement and accountability, said in a news release.

In other words, students elsewhere are drowning 10 feet below the surface, but Springfield kids are only eight feet underwater. As the city's children gasp for air, I doubt that parents and taxpayers are as pleased as SPS bureaucrats.

Don't expect things to get better. Over the past 10 years, Springfield's ACT composite has barely budged, wavering between a high of 22.9 and a low of 22.3. And the school board wants the composite score raised to 24 by 2014 - unlikely without major changes not yet on the horizon.

According to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, a larger percentage of Americans aged 35-64 have college degrees than those aged 25-34. This is the first generation in U.S. history to be less educated than their parents, at a time when brain power largely determines national and personal success.

Among SPS administrators, that's probably considered "academic excellence."

Source www.news-leader.com/