Fayette County Public School students outperformed the state average on the ACT college readiness assessment in 2013-14.
Yet the district still has some way to go to meet national benchmarks in math, reading, and science.
School officials are reviewing a new round of results, which show general improvement for both graduating seniors and juniors who took the test in March.
Lu Young, Fayette County’s chief academic officer, says while none of the group scores for juniors at any of the county’s high schools met the national benchmark of 24 in science, that number is based on a more select group of juniors than Kentucky’s data.
"The majority of students who take the ACT in any given year are self-selected college-goers. In Kentucky, it's all juniors. And several other states are beginning to test all their students on the ACT, but for the most part those are benchmarked for students who at least see themselves as likely going on to college and that's not always the case in Kentucky," she says.
A benchmark score is one that indicates at least a 50 percent chance of earning of a “B” or better in a college course.
The only junior class in Lexington that did not match the state’s average scores was Bryan Station High School, but its scores also showed improvement.
