COEUR d’ALENE — The ACT released scores on 2018 high school graduates today. According to the ACT report, the 36 percent of Idaho high school graduates that took the ACT this year scored an average 22.3 on the test.

Science was their weakest area, with only 46 percent of students meeting that college-readiness benchmark. A slightly higher amount, 49 percent, met the math benchmark, with 58 percent meeting the reading benchmark, and 73 percent meeting the English benchmark.

The report explained that “A benchmark score is the minimum score needed on an ACT subject-area test to indicate a 50 percent chance of obtaining a B or higher or about a 75 percent chance of obtaining a C or higher in the corresponding credit-bearing college courses, which include English Composition, Algebra, Social Science, Biology, STEM and ELA. These scores were empirically derived based on the actual performance of students in college.”

Nationwide 1,914,817 students took the ACT in 2018, scoring an average composite score of 20.8. As was the case in Idaho, students fared the poorest in science, with 36 percent meeting that benchmark, 40 percent meeting the mathematics benchmark, 46 percent meeting the reading benchmark, and 60 percent meeting the English benchmark. Only 27 percent of tested students nationwide met all four benchmarks.

The report noted, “The percentage of ACT-tested graduates who met or surpassed the ACT College Readiness Benchmark in math ... fell to its lowest level since 2004; 40 percent of 2018 graduates met the math benchmark, down from a high of 46 percent in 2012.” College readiness in English has been trending downward from 64 percent in 2015 to 60 percent in 2018, “the lowest level since the benchmarks were introduced,” said the report. Readiness levels in science and reading also dropped one percentage point.

State Department of Education spokesman Kristin Rodine said Idaho students “consistently fared better than the national average” in the percentage of students who met three or four benchmarks, percentage meeting the STEM benchmark, and the average composite score.

“It’s always good to see our students outperforming their peers in other parts of the nation, and these ACT results are part of an encouraging matrix of assessments for Idaho students,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra said. “It’s important to remember that our students are more than a test score, but I am proud of the work our educators and students are doing to succeed academically.”

Rodine said 6,743 Idaho public school grads took the ACT in 2018, while more than 19,000 took the SAT.