EDUCATION

Marietta Public Schools

Cobb County Schools Exceed State and National Scores On The ACT 2004

For the eighth year in a row, Cobb County School District high school students have outscored their peers statewide and nationally on the ACT. Cobb students topped state and national scores in the Composite area, and in each individual subject area.

While the district-wide scores showed improvement over last year’s ACT scores in English and Mathematics, the overall Composite score showed a slight decline. But scores were fairly consistent compared to 2003, even though the percentage of students tested jumped to 30 percent in 2004, up from just 24 percent in 2003. Typically, when the percentage of students tested increases significantly, overall scores will show a decline.

Cobb seniors who graduated in 2004 had a composite average score of 21.3, higher than the national average of 20.9 and the state average of 20.0. Scores for English were at their highest level in five years, as were Science Reasoning scores. Math scores were at their highest level in three years. On the math test, Cobb students’ average score was 21.3 (out of a possible 36), higher than both the national (20.7) and state (19.9) scores. Reading scores for Cobb students declined to 21.5 for 2004 from the previous year’s 21.8, although the national average increased from 21.2 in 2003 to 21.3 in 2004 (See Figure I).

An analysis of the data shows that Cobb students taking more rigorous courses in Natural Science and Social Science generally had higher average composite scores than students nationwide who reported taking similar courses (See Table II). District Math scores have shown continuous increase over the last three years and were higher than state scores in every content area of math tested in 2004. “Cobb County has developed more rigorous curriculum standards than required by the state,” says James Pratt, district supervisor for high school math in Cobb County. “Our goal has been implementing those standards consistently in every math class across the district.”

Results reflect the performance of 1,658 Cobb high school seniors (30 percent of all graduating seniors). Scores are for 2003-2004 seniors who took the ACT voluntarily in either their sophomore, junior or senior year of high school. The assessment includes four achievement tests that measure the educational development of college-bound students in the academic areas of English, Mathematics, Reading and Science Reasoning and reflect the thinking skills required of students to be successful during their freshman year of college.
Ten of Cobb’s 15 high schools reported at least 25 percent of students taking the ACT. Seven of the district’s high schools had composite scores higher than the national average of 20.9, and 10 had composite scores outperforming the state average of 20.0. Scores for schools are listed in Table III.

Cobb County School District
Notes on the 2004 ACT Scores
Released Nationally on 8/18/04

1,658 students took the ACT in the Cobb County School District during 2003-2004.
Cobb’s scores exceeded the state and national averages in all subject areas tested on
the ACT.

English scores were at the highest level over the past five years.
Scores for Reading and Composite declined in 2004. The Composite dropped to 21.3,
or 0.1 on a 36 point scale, while Reading dropped to 21.5 from 21.8 in the previous
year.

Cobb County’s average composite score of 21.3 has exceeded the national average for
the past eight years.

The national composite score for 2003-2004 was 20.9, and the Georgia composite
score was 20.0.

ACT scores reflect the thinking skills required of students to be successful during the
freshman year of college.

Two-thirds of the ACT test takers were female (999 females, 635 males).

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