For another year, Hawaii’s college-bound students performed at or slightly above the national average in English, reading, mathematics and science on the ACT college entrance exam, recently released figures show.
Statewide, 3,259 public and private school students in the 2011 graduating class took the ACT, the second-most prevalent entrance exam behind the College Board SAT. Hawaii’s participation in the ACT has grown 20 percent since 2001, when 2,722 students took the test.
Hawaii students earned an average composite score of 21.3 (out of a possible 36) on the ACT this year, down slightly from 21.6 last year. The national average composite score this year was 21.1, from 21.0 in 2010.
In English and reading, Hawaii’s average scores were 20.6 and 21.3, respectively, the same as the national averages. The state’s average score in math was 21.8, compared to 21.1 for the nation. In science, Hawaii students scored an average of 21.1, compared to 20.9 for the nation.
Hawaii girls scored slightly higher on the test than boys — with an average score of 21.4 (versus 21.2 for boys). But fewer girls than boys met all four college-readiness benchmarks on the test: 23 percent of girls hit that goal — compared with 28 percent of boys — largely because of scores in math and science portions that lagged behind those for boys.
About 68 percent of students met college readiness benchmarks for English, while 50 percent met benchmarks for math and 30 percent met benchmarks for science. Overall, one-fourth of students who took the test met readiness benchmarks for all four subject areas.
Among students who took the test, 22 percent planned to major in technologies or health science, the greatest percentage of any one major identified. The second most popular major was business, with 10 percent.
About 15 percent of students were undecided.
