More on the 2010 ACT results for Kentucky versus Louisiana

Are some Kentucky schools teaching college track courses in name only?

I’ve already blogged about the fact that Louisiana tested almost all (98%) of its high school graduating class of 2010 on the ACT college entrance test, which nearly equals Kentucky’s 100 percent testing rate for its 2010 graduates. Thus, comparisons between Kentucky and Louisiana’s ACT performance seem worthwhile to present. I think there are important messages here that Kentucky needs to heed.

I pointed out earlier that despite Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, Louisiana outscored us overall on the ACT in 2010. However, the Kentucky to Louisiana comparison gets even more interesting when we break the data down.

I did that for minorities in this blog.

However, more data is available.

I used Table 2.10 from the individual “ACT Profile Report – State” reports for Kentucky and Louisiana (available here) to assemble the data below (click on table to enlarge).


For each state, the data shaded in green shows the number of students taking at least the ACT’s recommended college core curriculum in each subject (N) along with the percentages of students who scored at or above the ACT’s College Readiness Benchmark (CRB) score in each subject and the state average ACT scale score (Avg) in that subject. This data comes directly from Table 2.10 in the ACT Profile Reports. It includes results for all students, public, private and home school combined.

The additional rows, shaded yellow, contain my calculations of the percentages of the ACT takers in each state from the Class of 2010 who reported taking at least the minimum College Core course load. I calculated these numbers from additional data found in Table 2.10 that is not shown here. That data includes the number of students in each state who did not take the core (Note: I ignored an additional group of students that didn’t answer ACT’s questions about course taking patterns).

The table shows the numbers, but what do they imply? Click the “Read more” link below to find out.



There are a couple of key points.

First, comparing the two rows of green shaded data, it is clear that Louisiana students who take at least the minimum Core Courses do better than our kids do. More of them reach the CRB scores that signal good college preparation, and their average ACT Scale Scores are higher, too.

These different results may be due to more kids in Louisiana taking more than the minimum courses for the core (I have not found information on that, so far, in the ACT reports). It also could be an indication that in some of our schools, college courses are in name only. The possibility of low course quality is something Kentucky needs to investigate further.

Second point, across the board, higher percentages of students in Louisiana take more college track courses than we find in Kentucky. You can’t get ready for college or better paying technical jobs if you don’t get the entry skills and education required. This lower participation in the college core courses in Kentucky is definitely an area for focus.