Horry County Schools’ 2009 performance on the American College Testing (ACT) remained steady and exceeded the state average in a year when 20 percent more students took the test. The number of test takers climbed from 637 in 2008 to 763 in 2009. A dramatic growth in student participation is usually accompanied by a downturn in scores, which has not happened in Horry County Schools

The average score for HCS students was 20.1, the same as it was in 2008. The 2009 state composite score of 19.7 and the national composite of 21.1 are also unchanged from the year before. The newly released ACT scores are from students who graduated in 2009, regardless of the year when their most recent scores were recorded. 

The ACT is a test of curriculum-based and classroom-based achievement. Four tests are included in the ACT: English, mathematics, reading and science reasoning.  Scores are reported in each of those tests as well as the overall composite. The ACT measures achievement on a 36-point scale. ACT considers a change of three-tenths of a point to be statistically significant; one-tenth of an ACT point is comparable to four points on the SAT.

The ACT’s recommended core courses include four years of English; three or more years of mathematics, including algebra I and II and geometry; three or more years of social studies, including American history and government and world history; and three or more years of natural sciences, such as general, physical and earth science, biology, chemistry and physics.

The ACT is the predominant college entrance exam in about half of the states, while the College Board’s SAT dominates the other half.  Although the SAT is still South Carolina’s most popular college-entrance exam, a record 16,170 public high school graduates took the ACT for 2009, up from 11,405 in 2005. All South Carolina colleges and universities accept either ACT or SAT scores for admission.  

The following table contains ACT subject area and composite scores for 2005 to 2009 for the District, State, and Nation.