The Tennessee Department of Education released the ACT state results and participation rate for the 2021 graduating class. Participation in the ACT decreased slightly from 97% with 62,564 graduates in 2019-20 to 96% with 60,865 graduates in 2020-21. The state average composite ACT score showed a decline from 19.9 for the class of 2019-20 to 19.1 for the class of 2020-21.
The ACT provides an important opportunity for our state to understand students’ college and career readiness and how we are preparing the next generation to transition to post-secondary opportunities. Each fall, the department releases statewide ACT results for the most recent graduating class representing each student’s highest ACT score.
The 2021 graduating class was most impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic with regards to the ACT testing. T.C.A. § 49-6-6001 requires all Tennessee public school students to take a postsecondary readiness exam, such as the ACT or SAT, in their junior year of high school. The opportunity allows students to maximize their potential to demonstrate postsecondary readiness, qualify for academic scholarships, and avoid remediation. Due to pandemic related school closures in Spring 2020, the Tennessee General Assembly enacted Public Chapter 652 in the 2020 legislative session to waive the ACT testing requirement for 11th grade students in the 2019-20 school year.
“Even with the requirements being waived and our districts, schools, and students having faced so many challenges this school year, we are proud to have achieved a 96% participation rate on the ACT for the 2020-21 school year- one of the highest in the country during this period,” said Commissioner Penny Schwinn. “While we know the effects of the pandemic are still being felt, especially by this class of students, we are proud of the collective efforts to ensure our students have every opportunity to be prepared for and take the ACT. We know Tennessee will continue to increase participation in college readiness testing to ensure our students are post-secondary ready.”
The department remained focused on ensuring college and career readiness for all students, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic by providing several additional opportunities for students to take the ACT and for schools and districts to maximize participation:
· Offered districts the ability to register students to take the ACT on national test dates at no cost to the student for all students to participate in the ACT on national test dates during the summer and fall of 2020 and spring of 2021
· Collaborated with ACT to expand testing sites on national test dates during the fall of 2020
· Offered the opportunity during the in-school testing dates in spring 2021 (normally reserved for juniors) to test seniors who missed the previous ACT testing opportunities
These efforts significantly improved the participation rate for the 2021 graduating class and brought the ACT participation rate to 96%, one percentage point shy from the prior year’s participation rate. Across the state, 17 districts had a participation rate of 100%, and only five districts had a participation rate lower than 90%.
Access the 2020-21 ACT participation rates and composite scores data here, under the Additional Data heading.
District highlights:
Cannon County High School had 116 students tested in 2021 with a participation rate of 97 percent. The average ACT score for the Cannon County High School graduating class of 2021 in each subject area was:
• 16.8 in English, 18.5 in Math, 19.2 in Reading, 19.1 in Science, and 18.9 in Composite Score. 23 Students at CCHS scored 21 or Higher in 2021 for 19.8% of the class.
“It has been a very challenging few years for our Cannon County Students, and they have continued to learn and move forward,” said Cannon County Director of Schools William Freddy Curtis. “We are continuing to implement new strategies at Cannon County High School that will address student deficiencies in all areas. This will enable us to achieve better results next year, and in the years to follow. Cannon County Schools desire to achieve OUR common VISION – ‘To Actively Engage in Excellence EVERY Day in EVERY Way!’ through OUR MISSION – ‘To Create a Unified Environment That Will Provide Opportunities for All Students to Succeed and Reach Their Full Potential!’ This means we desire our ACT Scores to rise more and more as our students demonstrate excellence and success!”
The department uses students’ best ACT score, meaning that if a student took the ACT multiple times, the score included in the finalized data reflect the student’s highest score. During the 2020-21 school year, 64 districts submitted a total of 2,929 appeals, which was 2.6 times more than the number of appeals submitted in 2019-20.
ACT results serve as a nationally-normed measure to indicate college and career readiness. Under Tennessee’s accountability model, earning a 21 on the ACT is one of the four ways that students can indicate that they are prepared for life after high school and a seamless entry into postsecondary education, the workplace, and the military.
In partnership with the University of Tennessee, Martin, the department continues to offer free ACT prep workshops for students and educators. Learn how to take advantage of these free resources here. To learn more about college readiness testing in Tennessee, click here.