Teach The Vote

More Texas Hispanic students in the 2015 graduating class took the ACT college admission test than any other student demographic, according to a report released today by ACT. The strong numbers led the state in setting a new ACT participation mark.

Of the 124,764 Texas students in the 2015 graduating class taking the ACT college admission test, almost 40 percent (48,934) were Hispanic. It’s the second consecutive year where the number of Hispanic students represented the highest number of examinees of any racial ethnic group.

Since 2011, Texas has seen a 22.8 percent increase in ACT test-taking graduates among all student groups.

“As our state’s student demographics have changed, the expectations we have for each of our students in the public education system remain high,” said Commissioner of Education Michael Williams. “Over the past several years, increased ACT participation in our state has taken place across the board, which reflects student aspirations well beyond high school that strengthens the Texas of tomorrow.”

ACT tests are administered for a number of subject areas including English, math, reading, science and writing (optional). Texas scores (excluding the optional writing test) in 2015 are:

• English – 19.8 (compared to 19.8 in 2014)
• Math – 21.1 (compared to 21.4 in 2014)
• Reading – 21.1 (compared to 21.1 in 2014)
• Science – 21.0 (compared to 21.0 in 2014)
• Composite – 20.9 (compared to 20.9 in 2014)

In addition, the 2015 average ACT scores for Texas students surpassed the national averages in mathematics and science.

Additional highlights of the Texas ACT results for the Class of 2015 include:

• The 2015 composite score of 23.3 for white students in Texas is .9 points higher than their national counterparts (22.4).
• The 2015 composite score of 17.6 for African-American students in Texas is .5 points higher than their national counterparts (17.1).
• The 2015 composite score of 25.1 for Asian students in Texas is 1.2 points higher than their national counterparts (23.9).
• In 2015, ACT scores for African-American, Asian and white students in Texas were higher than the national scores in English, mathematics, reading and science.
• The 2015 composite score of 18.7 for Hispanic/Latino students in Texas was .2 points lower than their national counterparts (18.9). However, the 2015 ACT scores for Hispanic students in Texas were higher than national scores in mathematics and science.
• For the 2015 graduating class taking the ACT college admission test, 44 percent met the college readiness benchmark for mathematics (higher than the 42 percent national rate), and 38 percent met the college readiness benchmark in science (equaling the national rate).

The top 10 Texas universities (in descending order) receiving scores from Texas ACT test-takers were: Texas A&M University; University of Texas at Austin; Texas Tech University; Texas State University; Baylor University; University of Texas at San Antonio; University of North Texas; Sam Houston State University; University of Texas – Pan American; and University of Houston.

The entire ACT report – complete with national and state-by-state results – can be viewed at www.act.org/readiness/2015.

Originally published by the Texas Education Agency on Aug. 26, 2015.