Wisconsin saw a slight improvement in student ACT scores for the 2011 school year. The composite score for graduating high school students taking the test climbed to 22.2, up a tenth of a point over last year.
Over 47,000 kids took the test during the last school year, amounting to a record participation rate for the state of 71 percent. Department of Public Instruction spokesman Patrick Gasper that number has continued to grow and is up from only 50-percent just five years ago.
Gasper says the higher composite score and participation rate are clear signs that both parents and teachers are stressing the importance to students of using high school as a chance to prepare for a college education.
The national composite score was 21.1 out of the 36 possible points on the test. Wisconsin had the third highest composite score in the nation, coming in behind Minnesota and Iowa.