HSCHS ACT scores come in below state average

The Wyoming Department of Education released the ACT data for students who took the test this spring.

Those students who took the statewide test were juniors this spring, incoming seniors this fall.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jillian Balow, said, “The ACT is a college readiness exam that opens doors for Wyoming students through the Hathaway Scholarship.

“By 2020, 65 percent of all jobs will require training beyond high school according to the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce. These results show that through the Hathaway Scholarship, nearly 70 percent of our students have better access to that training at our community colleges or the University of Wyoming.”

Hot Springs County juniors who took the test this spring show an 18.3 composite average. The 44 students averaged 17.1 in English, 17.7 in math, 18.9 in reading and 18.8 in science.

Their average scores are 1.2 lower than the state average of 19.5.

This is also a significant drop, 1.5, from their 2016/2017 scores.

There are four levels available to Wyoming students for the Hathaway Scholarship, Honors, Performance, Opportunity and Provisional.

In order to qualify for Honors, students must score at least 25 on the ACT. Performance requires a score of at least 21, Opportunity, 19 and Provisional, 17.

Working toward

raising scores

Hot Springs County High School is working to raise the bar and close the gap in student learning according to high school principal Breez Daniels. The following statement was received from Daniels in response to questions regarding the ACT scores.

“A traditional high school often suffers from “cohort” achievements. This means that some classes of students (a grade level cohort) perform well over time, they compete with each other for honors and tend to drive up scores as a group. While another cohort may suffer from more than one year of ineffective instruction during their K-12 experience and become frustrated with learning, driving down overall scores.

Our vision at Hot Springs County High School is to create a no opt out learning environment where every student is academically on track to achieve their individual best results each school year. This year there are 131 enrollments in concurrent enrollment/dual credit college classes, in comparison to 114 last school year. At HSCHS we believe all students are capable of learning at high levels.

Transitioning to this type of learning environment where teachers and students work together to achieve learning goals has not come without growing pains. This type of learning culture requires students to turn in every assignment and retake assessments until they can demonstrate proficiency. For the teacher this creates a cycle of teaching, re-teaching, and interventions to support students each week. Students are taught responsibility by not being allowed to opt out of learning. The best way to learn to be responsible is to be required to be responsible.

The lower ACT composite score of 18.3 in spring 2018, 1.5 percent lower than the 19.8 average composite the previous year, was not a surprise for HSCSD1. Student scores are tracked over time and several interventions such as 90 minute math and language arts periods were put into place during the 2017-18 school year to try to help students improve academically and achieve their personal best ACT score. Students not scoring in the range they wanted to achieve are being offered ACT prep opportunities, as well as an ACT retake opportunity this school year.

High School students are working hard to attain their academic goals and we look forward to seeing their achievements over time. In 2017-18 only 5 courses were failed in the entire school year, impacting 2 percent of the students. The prior year (2016-17) 86 classes were failed, impacting 11 percent of the students. It can be hard for students to overcome this type of academic failure. As we have hit the reset button at HSCHS our students have responded with a “can do” attitude and tremendous work ethic.   

Teachers and administrators at Hot Springs County High School attended a Professional Learning Communities and Response to Intervention Training August 20-22 as part of ongoing professional development.  

One of the priority goals for 2018-19 at HSCHS is to “Close the Gap” between the lowest and highest performing students, by raising the academic bar for all students. The 2006 ACT College and Workforce Readiness Study concluded the math and reading skills needed to be an electrician/carpenter/plumber are the same needed to be a successful first year college student. Career, College and Military Readiness must include high expectations for ALL students! This will be measured by reducing the number of students with a composite ACT of 18 or below, while increasing the number of students with a composite ACT of 21+.

A second goal is to create positive student engagement with a focus on Bobcat Pride. This will be measured by encouraging all students to be involved in an activity or club during the school year. This will be measured by increasing student participation from 81 percent in 2017-18 to a goal of 90 percent participation in 2018-19.