Officials: Berkeley County Schools See Increase In ACT Scores

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.–Berkeley County School District (BCSD) continues to maintain a steady performance on the ACT college admissions exam despite an 11 percent increase in test takers, BCSD officials stated.

The five-year trend in BCSD student ACT scores showed an increase of .5 points on the English portion of the exam, compared to the state’s increase of .4 points. Likewise, BCSD students achieved an increase of 1.1 points on the Reading test compared to the state’s .6 point increase.

The district saw a .5 point increase on the Science portion of the exam compared to the state’s .3 point increase, and a .5 point increase in the composite score compared to the state’s .3 point increase. On the English, Reading and Science portions of the exam, during the last five years, the district’s scores outpaced those of the state.

Pleased with the district’s five-year trend data, Berkeley County School District Interim Superintendent, Dr. Mike Turner, said, “Though Berkeley County School District scored slightly below the state average in the four subject areas and composite score, its five-year trend data for improvement surpassed the state results in all areas. From 2011 to 2015 the district increased its composite score from 19.6 to 20.1, a .5 measure, which is considered a significant result.”

Since 2011, the district’s number of test takers has increased by almost 29 percent. “We are testing more students than we were five years ago. During the 2014-2015 year, the ACT was administered to 53.3 percent of our high school seniors, and even with that increase in students taking the exam, Berkeley County School District maintained its historically high results in three of the four subject areas, as well as the average composite score,” said Turner.

The ACT consists of subtests of educational development in English, Mathematics, Reading and Science, and is designed to measure the skills necessary for success during a student’s first year of college work. ACT scores range from 1 to 36 for each of the four tests and the composite. The composite score is the average of the four test scores.