Bismarck Tribune - North Dakota News - N.D. students do well on ACT test

N.D. students do well on ACT test

Aug 14, 2008 - 04:07:12 CDT

By BLAKE NICHOLSON
Associated Press Writer

North Dakota high school students as a whole continue to show they are better prepared for college courses than their counterparts nationwide, but American Indian students in the state continue to lag behind whites.

The ACT college entrance exam for the high school class of 2008 shows 24 percent of the 6,113 North Dakota test-takers met the college-readiness benchmark score in all four areas: English, math, reading and science. That compared with 22 percent nationally.

However, only 3 percent of the 220 Indian students in North Dakota who took the test met the benchmark score in all four areas. That compared with 25 percent of the 5,419 white students who took the test.

State School Superintendent Wayne Sanstead and Gary Gronberg, an assistant superintendent with the Department of Public Instruction, said the poor showing of Indian students is not a reflection of the quality of reservation schools.

"They have some of the highest teacher salary schedules, some of the highest per-pupil spending," Gronberg said. "It's not a matter of lack of school resources. It's a function of poverty."

David Gipp, longtime president of United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, which is run by North Dakota tribes, said he is saddened by the ACT data.

"It means many of the colleges and universities that may be serving American Indians have a lot more work to do," he said. "Those students (who are not prepared) are certainly at greater risk of not completing (college) if we don't intervene very actively at the outset."

North Dakota students overall continued a trend of performing well on the ACT. On a scale of one to 36, the average ACT composite score in North Dakota was 21.6, the same as last year. Nationally, the average composite score for the class of 2008 was 21.1.

The average composite score for white students in North Dakota was 21.8; for Indian students it was 17.0.

Sixty-two percent of the North Dakota students said they took the core college preparatory courses, the ACT said. Those students had a composite ACT score of 22.7 compared with 19.6 for the students who did not take all the preparatory courses.

"Students who take the recommended core curriculum do so much better than the students who don't," Sanstead said. "Four English (classes), three math, three social studies, three science."

North Dakota's Commission on Education Improvement, which will be making recommendations to state lawmakers next year, is considering requiring students to take the core curriculum, Sanstead and Gronberg said.

Only half the 220 Indian students in North Dakota had taken the core college preparatory courses, compared with 63 percent of whites. White students who had taken less than the core courses had a better composite score - 19.9 - than Indian students who had taken the core courses - 18.2.

Nationwide, a record 1.42 million - or 43 percent - of this year's high school graduates took the ACT. The number of North Dakota test takers dropped this year by 213 students. Sanstead said the decrease is due to declining enrollment, and that North Dakota's participation rate of 81 percent is still among the top six states in the country.

Nineteen percent of North Dakota students tested said they planned to major in health-related fields in college. The next-highest field, business and management, was at 8 percent. Eighteen percent of students were undecided, and 9 percent gave no response.

North Dakota State University in Fargo was the university of choice for 17.5 percent of the students, while 13.8 percent named the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. Bismarck State, the next highest, was listed first by 9.6 percent of test-takers.

Rounding out the top five were the state College of Science in Wahpeton at 5 percent and Minot State at 4.5 percent.

News > State

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Comments

Bono wrote on Aug 17, 2008 3:15 PM:

" I guess I could have made my statement better. I don't mean to cut down teachers because ND does have some of the best. I just don't understand why it's only the teaching field that gets so much attention for low pay? Nurses aren't at the top of the pay scale and they don't generate as much publicity. "

Dew wrote on Aug 15, 2008 12:27 AM:

" I would not say that teachers do not do a lot for the students, a lot of them do over and above for the kids they teach. I know a lot of teachers having delt with many kids in school for many years and have several teachers in my extended family, besides knowiing many teachers on a personal basis through other areas. The one problem I have is that there are 'some' teachers that are very poor teachers and they tend to be left in the school system because of the NDEA. These bad teachers should be gotten rid of. Teachers maybe do not earn as much as they should but, then I guess they can go into other fields if they do not like the pay, that is what my dad was always told as a farmer, if you do like like what you make, sell the farm and do something else. One more thing about the teachers wages. If there would not be so much emphasis on all the different sports in school we would have a better learning system in our schools. The students do not seem to learn anything about sportsmanship or learn that you have to work hard at learning your lessons in class. It is all about WINNING! A kid can have really low grades and 'get by' because he is a good football player! "

LJK wrote on Aug 14, 2008 10:29 PM:

" I can't believe the ACT is still being used. SAT's, people! It's the American way of pitting your kids against each other and giving parent's life-long bragging rights. "

NDTeacher wrote on Aug 14, 2008 9:15 PM:

" Most schools nation wide now accept the ACT or SAT - they are completely different tests. High ACT scores actually do mean something and for students who earn them, it is a great accomplishment. Entrance into many schools (from higher end, whatever that exactly means to the different programs at our two year schools) is based on a combination on ACT scores, GPA, courses taken and participation in activities.
It would be nice to have the composite average go up in ND. In my opinion, this should be the state assessment for juniors instead of the CTB. Let's be proud that our students are doing well and hope that it is a trend that continues. "

nd wrote on Aug 14, 2008 8:11 PM:

" To bigpoppakdog~
Well said!!
Also, don't forget that teachers don't really get 3 months off a year!! They are in the classroom cleaning after school is out in the summer. They are also in the classroom up to a month or two before school starts. Not to mention that they take classes in the summer to keep their teaching certificates current.
They don't end work at 3:00. They are usually doing work late into the night (correcting, lesson planning, etc).
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Anyone who bashes teachers should spend a day in the classroom...especially the way (some-not all) kids (and parents) behave these days!!!
The comment from Bono about the students and parents getting the credit for high scores was fine. But, who taught those kids what they needed to know to earn those high scores??? "

BabyT wrote on Aug 14, 2008 12:33 PM:

" High ACT scores don't really mean as much as you think. Most higher end schools require SAT's, not ACT's. In parts of the nation outside the midwest, you generally take the ACT if you don't think you can't make it into a big school that has higher entrance requirements and requires the SAT instead. (thereby dragging down the national average for ACT in the process.) "

bigpoppakdog wrote on Aug 14, 2008 10:59 AM:

" We give credit to students and parents believe me. But, when students don't perform who gets the blame? That's right the teachers. In your "other industries" the person who is in charge of other peoples performances(managers etc..) make a heck of a lot more than $26,000 a year. That's what teachers are, managers of hundreds of students a day who's performance is measured on the federal level. Pretty big responsibility for $26,000 a year not? Take a managers yearly salary and break it down to 9 months, would be more around $45,000. Plus your old fashioned way of thinking about teachers is one of the MAJOR reasons schools all over the country cannot fill vacant positions. Your attitude that makes the rewards not worth the effort and people are not going into teaching. Too bad, education and school in the US isn't valued as much as it is in other countries. But oh well, guess you a guy can take or leave it right!? "

Bono wrote on Aug 14, 2008 10:09 AM:

" Yeah yeah yeah. The poor teachers. Alot of people in other industries work their tails off for less. All while not getting 3 months off each year.

Why not give alot of the credit to the students AND the parents - where it belongs? "

HBIC wrote on Aug 14, 2008 9:48 AM:

" I think it's way cool that ND students have the highest drinking rates in the nation, but seem to have some of the highest ACT scores as well.

This makes me proud to be a North Dakotan! "

bigpoppakdog wrote on Aug 14, 2008 9:19 AM:

" I'd like to take that billboard you see along the highway that says "farmers do the most but receive the least" and change that to ND Teachers, do the most, receive the least. "

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