Graduating Class Trends
Data Visualization Tool
Contents
ACT has collected and reported data on students’ academic readiness since 1959. This interactive tool contains information for ACT-tested high school graduating seniors from 2014 through 2023—more than 20 million students—and will allow users to quickly view state and national trends across multiple dimensions and outcomes.
Instructions and Definitions
The tool contains two views, or data visualization options, for exploring the data. Users can move between the views using the tabs provided at the top.
- Class Composition/Makeup view shows distributional trends, or percentages, of students falling into specific subgroups, which the user selects.
- Class Averages and Benchmark Percents view provides a look at student achievement over time, by user-selected characteristics and subgroup populations.
For either of these views, users have the option to filter content by state/national, student characteristic, and STEM-interest (one per category). For the Class Averages view, users can also select one academic achievement indicator.
For information about accessing this tool using a keyboard, please see Tableau's help page for keyboard navigation.
Student Characteristic/Subgroup Definitions
Student Characteristic/Subgroup |
Definition |
|---|---|
College Preparatory Core Coursework |
Took at least 4 years of English and 3 years each of math, social science, and natural science |
English Courses Taken/Planned |
Common English courses identified as having been taken, are currently taking, or plan to take |
Family Income |
Annual family income |
First Generation |
No parental college education attained |
Gender |
Male, female, or no response |
Highest Parental Education Level |
Highest education level attained by parents/caregivers |
Low Income |
Annual family income at or below $36,000 |
Math Courses Taken/Planned |
Common math courses identified as having been taken, are currently taking, or plan to take |
Met English-Specific Core |
Met core English requirement; regardless of other courses |
Met Math-Specific Core |
Met core math requirement; regardless of other courses |
Met Natural Science-Specific Core |
Met core natural science requirement; regardless of other courses |
Met Social Science-Specific Core |
Met core social science requirement; regardless of other courses |
Minority |
African American, American Indian, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, or Other |
Natural Science Courses Taken/Planned |
Common natural science courses identified as having been taken, are currently taking, or plan to take |
Number of Benchmarks Met |
Tally of number of English, math, reading, and science benchmarks met; excludes STEM and ELA |
Number of Underserved Criteria Met |
Tally of underserved criterion met |
Percent Tested |
Percentage of ACT-tested graduates; reported overall for the state or national level, depending on user selection |
Post-Secondary Aspirations |
Postsecondary education level to which students aspire |
Race/Ethnicity |
Race/Ethnicity |
Social Science Courses Taken/Planned |
Common social science courses identified as having been taken, are currently taking, or plan to take |
STEM Interested |
Expressed intent to pursue a STEM-related major/occupation and/or measured interest, based on ACT Interest Inventory scores |
Underserved Status |
Met minority, first generation, or low-income criterion |
Academic Achievement Definitions
Academic Achievement |
Definition |
|---|---|
Average ACT Composite |
Average ACT Composite score |
Average ACT ELA |
Average ACT ELA score |
Average ACT English |
Average ACT English scale score |
Average ACT Math |
Average ACT mathematics scale score |
Average ACT Reading |
Average ACT reading scale score |
Average ACT Science |
Average ACT science scale score |
Average ACT STEM |
Average ACT STEM score |
Average Writing |
Average ACT writing score; due to a writing test design enhancement, trends only go back to 2016 |
Percent Meeting All Four Benchmarks |
Percentage of graduates meeting English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science Benchmarks |
Percent Meeting English Benchmark |
Percentage of graduates with English scale scores at or above 18 |
Percent Meeting Mathematics Benchmark |
Percentage of graduates with math scale scores at or above 22 |
Percent Meeting Reading Benchmark |
From 2013 forward, percentage of graduates with reading scale scores at or above 22; Prior to 2013, a value of 21 was used |
Percent Meeting Science Benchmark |
From 2013 forward, percentage of graduates with science scale scores at or above 23; Prior to 2013, a value of 24 was used
|