Jesse Tan, a senior at Baton Rouge Magnet High School, can now claim what only one in 3,330 students nationwide can -- a perfect score of 36 on last year’s American College Testing (ACT) exam.  With aggressive, proactive preparation, plus an emphasis on core subject matter, more than 1,300 East Baton Rouge Parish School System students took the college preparatory test in the spring of 2009 and lead the school district to its highest level in five years.

According to figures released on Wednesday, August 19, East Baton Rouge Parish’s public schools’ average ACT score grew to 19.7 points, up from 19.5 points the previous year.  The largest gains in the district occurred in English, which grew by 0.3 points.  The increase of 0.2 points for the East Baton Rouge Parish School System is well within yelling distance of the nation’s unchanged average of 21.1 points.  The state average, 20.1, is 0.2 points less than last year’s average of 20.3 points.

Superintendent John Dilworth credits the hard work of students, teachers and administrators for the increase in student achievement. He also praises the district’s Literacy Program for the increase in student scores. “We clearly see that our emphasis on our Literacy Program is paying off in raising student achievement in this area,” Dilworth said.  “I expect this trend to continue as more students at the elementary level participate in the literacy programs we currently have in place.”

The ACT is a standardized achievement examination for college admissions in the United States produced by ACT, Inc. The ACT test has historically consisted of for tests:  English, Math, Reading and Science reasoning. ACT is a curriculum-based measure of college readiness.  In Louisiana, ACT scores are part of the determination for the Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS).