Record Number of LWSD Students Meet ACT Benchmarks

Editor's note: The following is a news release from the Lake Washington School District.

More Lake Washington School District (LWSD) students than ever scored high enough on each of the four ACT tests to meet the college readiness benchmark for all four subjects—English, math, reading and science. While nationally only 25 percent of students met this standard and 38 percent met it statewide, 57 percent of the students inLWSD who took the ACT qualified. That is up from 55 percent last year and continues a rising trend over the last five years, from 50 percent of students in 2008.

This achievement was accomplished despite slightly lower average scores in three of the four subject categories. In 2011, the average ACT scores for students from Lake Washington School District rose in every category, with gains of three or four tenths of a percent in three of four categories and the composite score. In 2012, scores dipped slightly in the same categories but all averages remained higher than the 2010 scores. The district’s average composite score fell by one tenth from 2011 to 2012, reaching 25.5, still higher than 25.3 average in 2010. State composite scores rose from 22.8 in 2011 to 22.9 in 2012. The national average remained at 21.1.

Average scores for Lake Washington students rose in science, from 24.7 in 2011 to 24.8 in 2012. Washington state scores also rose, from 22.3 to 22.4 while national score averages stayed flat at 20.9.

LWSD average scores fell by one tenth each in reading and math in 2012. Math scores averaged 25.5, higher than the 25.2 average in 2010. The state average in 2012 was 23.1 and the national average in math was 21.1. LWSD reading scores averaged 25.9, higher than the 25.6 average for 2010. Reading scores in the state in 2012 averaged 23.3 and national scores averaged 21.3.

LWSD English scores fell to 25.3 in 2012 from 25.6 in 2011 but remained higher than the 2010 average of 25.2. State level English scores remained flat at 22.3 while national English scores fell from 20.6 to 20.5.

Lake Washington students who take the ACT continue to be more likely to meet college readiness standards than other students in Washington state or in the U.S. Ninety-one percent of LWSD students taking the ACT met the college readiness benchmark score in English, compared to 76 percent statewide and 67 percent nationwide. In math, 81 percent of district students met the readiness benchmark, while at the state level it was 62 percent and 46 percent nationally. For reading, 82 percent of district students met the benchmark compared to 66 percent statewide and 52 percent nationally. In science, 61 percent of LWSD students met the readiness benchmark while 43 percent statewide and 31 percent nationally met that standard.

The number of students in LWSD who took the ACT test rose from 421 in 2011 to 485 in 2012.

For more information on the ACT test itself and on national results, go to the ACT website.