Eleventh-graders in both the East and West Tallahatchie school districts scored below the state average on the ACT this year, the Mississippi Department of Education reported Thursday.
Statewide, the average score for juniors rose from 17.3 in 2021 to 17.4 in 2022, and the percentage of juniors meeting the benchmark for all four tested ACT subjects — English, mathematics, reading and science — increased from 8.9% in 2021 to 9.3% in 2022.
State averages in all four subject areas improved from 2021 to 2022.
At Charleston High School (CHS), the average ACT score for juniors fell from 13.8 in 2021 to 13.5 in 2022. Those figures were 3.5 points below the Mississippi average in 2021 and 3.9 points lower than the state average in 2022.
At West Tallahatchie High School (WTHS), the average ACT score for juniors fell from 14.9 in 2021 to 14.0 in 2022. Those figures failed to meet the state average by 2.4 points and 3.4 points, respectively, in 2021 and 2022.
WTHS juniors also scored better averages in the four tested ACT subjects than did their counterparts at CHS.
The following table shows the four subject test averages, as well as the composite 2021 and 2022 ACT averages, in Mississippi and at both local high schools.
| Spring 2022 ACT subject area results for juniors |
| |
English |
Math |
Reading |
Science |
| State |
16.5 |
17.2 |
17.7 |
17.7 |
| CHS |
11.6 |
14.0 |
13.6 |
14.2 |
| WTHS |
11.7 |
15.1 |
14.1 |
15.1 |
|
The following table shows the average composite ACT scores for area high schools in 2022 and 2021.
| ACT composite scores for juniors 2022 2021 |
| Mississippi statewide |
17.4 |
17.3 |
| Amanda Elzy High |
15.4 |
14.4 |
| Charleston High |
13.5 |
13.8 |
| Coahoma County High |
14.3 |
13.8 |
| Coffeeville High |
14.1 |
14.0 |
| Grenada High |
17.4 |
17.6 |
| Lafayette High |
19.8 |
18.6 |
| Leflore County High |
14.8 |
15.6 |
| M.S. Palmer High |
14.0 |
13.4 |
| North Panola High |
14.3 |
13.5 |
| Oxford High |
21.0 |
20.8 |
| South Panola High |
16.4 |
16.5 |
| Water Valley High |
17.1 |
17.3 |
| West Tallahatchie High |
14.0 |
14.9 |
According to MDE, the ACT is designed to predict how well students will perform in college, and colleges use standardized tests like the ACT to compare students across schools and states.
