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Metro Schools' average ACT score highest in five years

Joey Garrison
jgarrison@tennessean.com

Metro Nashville Public Schools' average ACT score has risen to 18.4 — the highest in five years — though its gain over last year was slightly smaller than the state's.

The increase for Metro students marks a jump of two-tenths of a point from the district's 18.2 average ACT in 2013.

Tennessee netted an increase of three-tenths of a point during that span, from 19.5 to 19.8, drawing high praise from state Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman, who said he had been waiting for a gain of that magnitude.

Tennessee's score, as well as that of MNPS, had remained largely stagnant since the state in 2010 began requiring all juniors to begin taking the college entrance exam.

South of Davidson County, in affluent Williamson County, students moved that district's average ACT score from 23.4 to 23.5 — an all-time high for Williamson County Schools.

The highest possible ACT score is 36.

MNPS spokesman Joe Bass noted the "rules changed" between 2012 and 2013, when the district experienced a drop of two-tenths of a point.That's when alternative ACT assessments of special-needs students began to be factored into overall state and district scores.

"The state was celebrating its uptick of three-tenths, so two-tenths we feel like is something significant," Bass said.

Huffman didn't chalk up the improvement to any one policy but pointed to tougher high school graduation requirements that were instituted just as tougher academic standards kicked in four years ago.

Though the state bump of three-tenths of a point might seem small, a spokesman for ACT called it "unusual" and a "pretty big achievement." The testing company typically sees gains of no more than one-tenth or two-tenths from one year to the next.

ACT results for individual Metro schools aren't available at this time.

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.

Average ACT scores

Metro Nashville Public Schools

Tennessee (public and non-public school students)

2014

18.4

19.8

2013

18.2

19.5

2012

18.4

19.7

2011

18.1

19.5

2010

18.1

19.6

Sources: MNPS, ACT