Scores encourage college tries

Marisa O’Neil

Few local students opt to take the American College Testing Program,

but those who did this year beat the state and national averages, as

they have the past five years.

In the testing results released today, 2004 graduating seniors in

Newport-Mesa Unified School District earned an average composite

score of 23.2 out of 36 points. Only 228 Newport-Mesa students took

the test, placing it far behind the Scholastic Aptitude Test in

popularity.

“It seems we’re competitive with other schools across the state

and nationally,” Assistant Supt. of Secondary Education Jaime

Castellanos said of the ACT. “But we are having some of the better

kids take these tests.”

Like the SAT, the ACT is meant to measure a student’s readiness

for college. Students who plan on going to college usually take one,

the other or sometimes both.

Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s students performed better

than the 2004 state average of 21.6 out of 36 points. The national

average was 20.9 points.

The test is broken into four sections, while the SAT is broken

into only two -- verbal and math.

In Newport-Mesa, students scored an average 22.8 in English, 23.7

in math, 23.6 in reading and 22.1 in science reasoning. All the

scores are up less than a point from last year.

Last year, 218 students took the test and scored an average

composite score of 22.6, above the national average of 20.8 and state

average of 21.5.

About as many students at each of the district’s main high schools

-- Estancia, Newport Harbor, Costa Mesa and Corona del Mar -- took

the SAT as took the ACT districtwide, said Peggy Anatol, director of

curriculum and assessment for the district.

“It’s definitely the college-bound kids who are taking it,”

Castellanos said. “Most colleges accept both [tests], but it depends

which you’re going to.”

University of California and California State campuses both accept

ACT scores for admissions, ACT spokesman Ken Gullette said. This

year, 50,000 students took the ACT, compared with only 40,000 two

years ago.

“More and more students in California are beginning to realize

they do have an alternative to the SAT,” Gullette said.

Some students perform better on the ACT, he said. That test does

not use analogies, as the SAT does, and though it tests math up to

trigonometry, the math only counts for 25% of the test score, he

said.

“It’s an individual choice,” Castellanos said. “The counselors

push students to take both tests.”