Jackson Free Press

ACT scores for the class of 2011 show Mississippi high school students lagging behind the rest of the country in preparing for college.

ACT released the latest round of standardized test scores Wednesday that show Mississippi students had an average composite score of 18.7 out of a possible 36. The national average composite score was 21.1.

Mississippi also had the lowest average subject-area scores in the nation. The English portion of the test was a slight exception to the rule--in that area, Mississippi tied for last place with Arizona.

ACT tests students in four areas--English, reading, math and science--and sets benchmark scores for "college readiness" in corresponding freshmen-level college classes. The benchmarks represent the level of achievement students need to have a 50 percent chance of earning a grade of B or higher in those classes or a 75 percent chance of earning a C or higher. Only 10 percent of Mississippi high school students in the class of 2011 met all four benchmarks. Nationally, 25 percent of students who took the test met benchmarks in all four areas.

Mississippi students have high educational aspirations, though. ACT reports 45 percent of students said they wanted a bachelor's degree, and 36 percent said they wanted a graduate or professional degree.

Rachel Canter, executive director of Mississippi First, said the results are tragic, but unsurprising. Although Mississippi students may do well on state tests, such as the Mississippi Curriculum Test, they tend to score low on national tests, she said.

"We do not hold our kids to the same rigorous standards as the rest of the country does, but this is going to change," Canter said.

Mississippi has adopted the Common Core State Standards, which give schools around the country a standard set of benchmarks for student learning. Canter said the Common Core will revolutionize education, but implementing the program will be a slow and uneven process. Teachers will have to receive training in order to teach more rigorous curriculum, and the curriculum will be phased in over several years. When the Common Core Curriculum is in place, standards for students in Mississippi should match up with national standards, Canter said.

The complete national and state ACT reports on college and career readiness are available at act.org/readiness/2011.

Previous Commentsshow

I read on here a few weeks back that JPS higher ups don't think we should base student achievement (and further school achievement) on test scores, so this isn't that big of a deal, right?

RobbieR

Aug 18 2011

As I read it, RR, you would be correct. If you can't succeed by one set of standards, discard them and get another. As a JPS product, what set me apart from the others that didn't fare so well on testing? My overworked, single mother fed three kids that got into no trouble at all in S. Jackson. I rode the bus. Because of neighborhood realignment, I got moved to a different high school because of 'white flight.' Yet, I did damned well. To answer my own question: I tried. And my trying led to my further doing well into college and beyond. Was it because I was white? I shudder to pass that off as an explanation since I was a minority in school. I wonder what the explanation was for this, though: Of the 30% white kids in my senior class, all of us (yes, folks...all) graduated in the top half of the class.

Darryl

Aug 18 2011

Well, Darryl, it's obviously not because you are white. Neuroscientists and other smart folks did away with that whole white-folks-smarter-than-black-folks saw a long time ago. So why don't you answer your question? What are the possible reasons that the white kids did so well. Let's explore the possibilities. How were their lives different than yours? (And what year was it, by the way, when you graduated?) Let's see if we can unpack the possibilities since you brought it up.

DonnaLadd

Aug 18 2011

Meantime, here is a good article about what neuroscience is now teaching us about how and when kids learn. One thing that is clear when you read that piece is how important early childhood learning is, especially for kids who come from backgrounds and communities that are behind the curve, thus leaving them ill-prepared to learn or keep up with those who are taught to believe they can do anything. (I, for instance, came form a poor-ish background, but I was also told by the culture that as a white girl/woman, I could be a success. Many of my black counterparts came from very different cultures.) Whether you want it to or not, this matters, and it's been proved to. In the last couple decades, neuroscience (one of my favorite reading topics these days) has undergone a sea change about why kids learn and don't -- and, yes, it is very important whether they believe they can or not, and the conditions they grow up in -- i.e. poverty is a very important factor. The problems can be overcome, but if they aren't, certain kids just won't be as ready as others. And certainly in your case, Darryl, it sounds like you went to school a while back. I presume you understand the differences in schools, not to mention family backgrounds and cultural socialization about learning between blacks and whites, especially back before schools were, er, realigned. We devoted an issue to these discoveries and issues recently. Click here to flip through and read our issue, "How to Raise a Genius Kid." One thing that sets kids back is when their families, teachers, media and the community treat them as if they cannot succeed. Too many will believe it. As a community, our approach must be to assume that all of our kids can be educated and do our part to dispel the myths. We can start by removing the word "thugs" from our vocabulary and lose our own stereotypes first. Then, as teachers, we must hold all young people to high standards. I've seen first-hand situations where teachers and professors are assuming their young people cannot be among the best. Nothing makes me angrier, especially in our state where most of us are held to lower standards.

DonnaLadd

Aug 18 2011

As for the ACT test (as well as SAT and many of the types of testing that separate "smart" kids from the rest), allow me to make some of your heads explode by bringing up the vast research that show that the tests are biased (in favor of white kids, due to who made them and makes them up in the first place). The same folks who don't want to talk about race unless they bring it up won't like this, but it is a very real issue. Here's just one site to get you going on. There is much more out there if you're interested. A good book to get you thinking about this issue is one I studied in graduate school: "The Big Test" by Nicholas Lemann. Of course, going down that road can take you into very interesting reading about the legacies eugenics and scientific racism, but I'll spring that one on you another day. ;-)

DonnaLadd

Aug 18 2011

As for the ACT test (as well as SAT and many of the types of testing that separate "smart" kids from the rest), allow me to make some of your heads explode by bringing up the vast research that show that the tests are biased (in favor of white kids, due to who made them and makes them up in the first place). The same folks who don't want to talk about race unless they bring it up won't like this, but it is a very real issue. A black man created peanut butter but I seem to do well spreading it as everyone else does. That argument you trot out is specious at best and you know that. Since you asked, I graduated in 1985. And I would be very interested, indeed, to hear about your theories regarding eugenics and "scientific" racism. From a white woman, this is sure to be good. (no need for emoticon).

Darryl

Aug 19 2011

That argument you trot out is specious at best and you know that. Uh, no, it's not. And it's not my argument. Darryl, there is a world of research out there just waiting for us to read it and think about it. Responding that the world is flat doesn't mean it is. And *I* don't have theories on eugenics and scientific racism. I'm not qualified to come with those theories, and I came decades too late. These are real things, Darryl; it is easy to learn more about them. Right here in Jackson, at the old "Insane Asylum" (on site of UMC), eugenicists sterilized people not considered smart enough to have children (many "progressives" supported eugenics, along with Nazis like Hitler). Bill Simmons, who was head of the Citizens Council and ran the Fairview Inn in his old family home until he sold it before his death) was part of the scientific racism movement--supposedly using science to prove that black people were inferior in order to justify the unequal treatment that he and most white people in Jackson were supporting in order to keep wealth and education away from black people and more to themselves. South Africa used the Mississippi model to help figure out how to "do" apartheid. I have a copy of the book, "Race and Reason: A Yankee's View" by Carleton Putnam, which supposedly laid out the scientific reasons for blacks being inferior (and crime-prone; today's crime rhetoric is straight out of that book, and many people don't even know it). Gov. Ross Barnett made it part of public-school curricula in the 1960s. (I bought it at a book sale at the Eudora Welty library a few years back; I added it to my classroom library next to "The Bell Curve" (a famous tome of scientific racism published in 1994 and funded by Manhattan Institute and think tanks still trying to prove blacks inferior. It sits next to the more-scientific and less-racist book that refutes it.) These are all facts, Darryl, not my theories or stuff I'm making up. I know they're hard to hear, especially if you haven't encountered them before. But it is the kind of history than can literally set you free from the beliefs that others should just "perform" and, therefore, be equal to you. It's not that simply based on our state's and our country's history. Look, I wasn't taught all this back at Neshoba Central, either. My saving grace is that I am insatiably curious, and I form my beliefs and positions based on research/facts and not the other way around as many people do (and per that Citizens Council indoctrination program, which is real). Why don't you take some of the time you put into criticizing me and Blackwatch and use it tooling around the Sovereignty Commission files (which are real, too, not a figment of my imagination). Throw your family's last name in and those of family friends and community folks you know. See what comes up. Read some of the intelligence reports to see what your family's tax dollars were going. Read up on the horrors of eugenics, and use your brain to consider that maybe there are problems with the ACT and the SAT. Consider what I challenged you to think about earlier: If, as you argue, there are no societal reasons for some folks not "performing" as well as others, your argument degrades into one that you and your type are superior. That argument was the basis of eugenics, slavery, Jim Crow and Nazi Germany. Do you want to follow such a belief system? If not, challenge your way out of it as so many have done. And I will tell you this: There is no better way to feel better about yourself and your own life than in knowing that you're helping someone who needs it. Here's a link to the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission search page. You don't even have to tell us about it, and you can keep belittling our ideas in public, but I challenge you to spend some time there and try if you can to consider yourself as one of those black people who were fighting against all odds to better themselves and help their families.

DonnaLadd

Aug 19 2011

There's a world of research that supports global warming and it's consequences, it's still just a theory.

RobbieR

Aug 19 2011

Yes, and one that few but the most ignorant (or politically entrenched) discount at this point. Too bad we wasted so much time pandering to industry claims on that -- which history will likely see as one of Bush II's worst legacies. As for my statement, Robbie: The point is that Darryl seems to be accusing *me* of coming of with "theories" (meaning, from him, falsehoods) about eugenics, scientific racism and problems with ACT/SAT/testing. I know, that seems remarkable, considering how much serious research and documentation have been done on these issues. But some folk don't want to know what they don't know. This reminds me of my mother who took reading/writing classes for the first time in her life when she was in her 60s. She had always been an extremely intelligent, and compassionate, person but had no "book learnin'." She literally could not read or write. After she started taking her classes, which she excelled in of course, she fell into a deep depression and wouldn't talk about it to anyone. I came home and basically forced her to tell me what was bothering her. In tears, she told me, "Donna, I didn't know how much I didn't know. I just didn't know." That was the most heartbreaking moment of my life, and it breaks my heart every time I see people make statements (especially about other people and races, our history or even our city/state) without bothering to use their skills of reading and writing (and thinking) to bolster (or change) their beliefs with hard facts. I had always wanted to learn everything possible (due to my mama's painful and secret inability to read and write when I was growing up), but the day she made that tearful confession to me, my resolve was renewed. I got serious about learning things I didn't know, becoming a writer and teacher and researcher and, ultimately, going to a good graduate school that helped me fill in so many gaps. It didn't take that, though. The main thing was to decide to learn everything possible and *then* base my opinions on it. I was never one to believe what so many fool adults tried to tell me growing up (usually interspersed with the liberal use of N-word), so it wasn't hard to convince myself. But watching a woman bawl because she'd spent her life not able to know so much of what was out there was a life-changing incident. I owe that woman everything, may she rest in peace. OK, now I'm crying. Must go edit or something. Just remember: Together, we can make our state and city great. Don't reject the past; use it.

DonnaLadd

Aug 19 2011

Robbie-- (and Darryl) I WILL NOT BREAK THE USER AGREEMENT. The information that Donna is sharing regarding standardized testing and its bias against minority children is a well-supported "theory", as you call it. Its been around for YEARS. I highly suggest you READ some of this information for yourself so that you can possibly get a better understanding. If you read it, and you still disagree with it, at least you can make your own argument that is valid concerning how you feel about the "theory".

Lori G

Aug 19 2011

Donna-I'm liking the new neuroscience focus. I've been on that about two years now (doing some intensive training around therapy related to trauma in chaotic neighborhoods). Its good stuff. Gives you a basis for understanding lower-level decision making and how crime happens. Good stuff. (and by "lower-level" I mean all decisions based on "flight" or "fight" and not upper level rational brain decision-making)

Lori G

Aug 19 2011

Lori, I'm freakin' obsessed with brain science. It's so filled with ... HOPE. For ourselves individually, needy young folks such you work with, our businesses and our communities as a whole. My reading has changed my approach to so many things. If nothing else breaks through on this thread, I hope it's this: Just by spending a little bit of time considering things from a different perspective, you can literally change your brain's make-up and, thus, be happier and more successful. Empathy is key; picture yourself walking in someone else's shoes (noting whether or not there are bootstraps attached, by the way); imagine growing up as they did. It doesn't *excuse* anything; it provides a roadmap to changing things. People who haven't tried it can never know this. And, yes, there is biblical guidance on taking this path, all. Just try. If you don't think you have time, just take the time you spending complaining about crime or the mayor or the president or whatever, and use it a different way for 30 minutes. Then do it again.

DonnaLadd

Aug 19 2011

Lori, you should help us compile (or plan) a feature in the upcoming crime issue about realities in chaotic neighborhoods, as you call them, and what can be done. A good chance to reveal people to more brain-science solutions, among others.

DonnaLadd

Aug 19 2011

There's some very interesting neuroscience info about how racial prejudice and other kinds of bigotry work in the brain. I'll share some of that later, but it does actually show that much of it comes from brain issues, literally, which allows one to have more compassion for bigots. It's not irreversible, though; neither are many of our "thinking" weaknesses. The most exciting thing, of course, is that it show how much societal and family pressures (including in earlier generations) affects one's ability to learn and success. And that can be reversed, too. In other words, it turns that "Race and Reason"/"Bell Curve" racist bullshit on its head.

DonnaLadd

Aug 19 2011

There's a lot of interesting research out there now on the malleability of your brain. People don't realize how "changeable" their brains are if they are trained correctly. Buddhism is pretty much the foundation for most Evidenced-Based Therapies being used with inner city youth! Its freaking amazing! With that being said, I never really thought about this but the program that we use here called SPARCS (Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress) is a structured 16 week group therapy format being used with kids that come from chaotic/impoverished neighborhoods. Mostly neighborhoods with high levels of violence where the children are often traumatized. It teaches their brains to take that "higher step" and to move thoughts and decisions into the rational brain and not make the decisions in their animal/fight/flight brain. Most of these children were never "taught" to use their rational pathway(We even have cute brain visuals that teach them the difference) If they are never taught to do this, most of their decisions are made based upon survival.(Not the best choice, usually--unless you ARE in a life or death situation) We teach these kids to self-soothe, mindfulness (teaching these kids mindfulness is the BEST THING EVER! We get to "mindfully dance" and "Mindfully scream" in group!!)The self-soothing skills teach them to "distract" themselves from uncomfortable feelings and then how to identify these feelings, the part of the body they are "sitting in" and then how to use those feelings to make an integrated and healthy decision. Its called using your "Wise Mind" (a mix between rational mind and feeling mind) We have great success with it! And its all based on neuroscience and actually has the evidence to back up its efficacy. I was just thinking, we have a group of specialized therapists we are putting in the capital area B&G's clubs (the staff recommends kids that are having diffifulty, we have them evaluated and they are placed in the group). BUT, how much good could we accomplish if we put this group in every JPS middle school? We need to talk. There is a program at CC that teaches therapists this model. Their grant pays them to train people on how to do this. If we could get the JPS school district to buy in and train their counselors this has the possibility to make major changes in this community.

Lori G

Aug 19 2011

I was JUST THINKING that I need to find a way to write about this so that people can see what I see.(Great minds and all that!) Which is, a lot of these kids didn't have the CHOICE. From birth their brain was taught to "survive" (either due to changing caregivers, inconsistent caregiver). If they are never taught, they do not know. But, you are right in the HOPE part. Because, if they are taught, THEY LEARN!! And they can change.

Lori G

Aug 19 2011

Actually, not really "write" but I'd like to plan or compile an issue explaining this. Seriously. Just let me know where I need to be and when.

Lori G

Aug 19 2011

Well let me say this, I'm a black male, I scored a 21 on my ACT fresh out of Hoffman Estates H.S., public high school in the west chicago burbs. We had a student population of 2500, asian (japanese, korean, filipino, pakistanian, indian), hispanic (mexican), black and white, where even the whites fell into sub categories (italian, jewish, polish, russian, irish). My graduating class was 541 students and the avg. ACT score was a 26. I graduated in 1993 and I was at the bottom of my class, can't lie - I was too busy chasing girls, drinkin beer, playing sports by JUST maintaining a 2.0. I had classmates from every ethnic group who scored above the 25 mark and some who hit the basic 18, from every type of financial background as well. Classmates that were accepted to M.I.T, Harvard, Univ. of Chicago, Illinois State, Univ of Illinois, Grambling, Howard, Univ of Iowa, Ball State, Univ. of Wisconsin. The list goes on and on. However, this is where it gets interesting for me - I came to Jackson State because they were the first college to accept me and that meant a lot to me. As I got involved with the Recruting Department at JSU during my tenure - I noticed the info cards we received from kids that went to school in Mississippi, had high GPA's - but very low ACT scores, from black and the very few white applicants. It's the educational system in Mississippi that spurns this fact. So it carries over, because when the facts are given - soft ball efforts are made to fix the problem and nothing is ever solved. Then you have other trickle down affects, from lame efforts trying to solve the problem - such as crime, unemployment, quality of work, quality of labor, quality of life.

Duan C.

Aug 19 2011

Good post, Duan. Heck, we're already profiled, black and white, due to the fact that we're expected to take ACT, not SAT. Bigotry of low expectations.

DonnaLadd

Aug 19 2011

"Bigotry of low expectations." Great point! Its all trickle down and its crazy how people don't see how it affects everything & everyone, when your only trying to benefit a select group, or to keep a select group from progressing. When are Mississippians going to stop and look at the facts, instead of ignore them and say something to the extent of - "well, I did such and such, so it's not my problem" Well, actually, it is our problem - because it affects so many things, when your not holding up to par with the rest of the country in education. Now we can't deny Mississippi does turn out some really incredible politicians, athletes, entertainers, even inventors if you look at the history, however, as whole we are not doing well.

Duan C.

Aug 19 2011

@Duan, The reason why you observed that ten MS applicants had high GPA's but low ACT scores is because Mississippi has a terrible history of inflating grades in order to compensate for not investing enough in the education of enough of its children. The same thing happens with the state test. Educators and Ed leaders in this state look at the reality that many school districts are languishing in concentrated poverty and no relief in sight will come from the state, so they award "A's" for very subpar performances in the classroom and "Advanced" scores for tests that are very light on critical thinking. What this does is ill prepare students for college and careers as well. Also, many people in MS think that simply earning a general high school diploma is sufficient to prepare students for college, thus we hear the complaints that too many students are being prepared for college in high school as opposed to learning a trade. This is simply not true. You can earn a high school diploma in MS and not take the right classes to even meet entrance requirements in the State colleges. College prep isn’t just any 4 math, English, Science and Social studies classes. The IHL has developed a college prep curriculum that students must take in order to meet entrance requirements and most students do not take the right courses. But almost all Students in MS pretty much take the ACT and many try to go to college after high school. But sadly, most of them are not prepared to do well, due to the structure of schooling in this state. MS must raise the academic bar in our schools, but sadly, most districts that are “high Performing” will rather keep those artificial labels (due to public perception and property values) rather than actually do the work of truly preparing students to be successful after high school. Sad, truly sad.

Renaldo Bryant

Aug 19 2011

"Now we can't deny Mississippi does turn out some really incredible politicians, athletes, entertainers, even inventors if you look at the history, however, as whole we are not doing well." Absolutely agree - and that is what I want to change. I want Mississippi to do well as a whole, because in the end, we are all connected. There are many changes we need in Education. Starting with a Pre-School program. I hear many people talking about the responsibility of the parents in education. To my ears, those people are saying that only kids with two parents in a household where only the father has to work - are the only kids worthy of an education. Not all of us have two parents or any parent at home to teach us and not every parent knows how to teach and many don't know what to teach, but every child is worthy of a good education and a good opportunity to excel. I want to work with teachers, students, parents and others to formulate a curriculum for our schools and test it in some of our schools that are labeled as 'the worst.' I am positive that we can make changes for the betterment of everyone that will give Mississippi an educational advantage, get us into the top 10% as opposed to the bottom 5%. If a Mississippi College Preparedness Test needs to be created to ensure a non-biased testing standard, then that is what we should do. ((But as long as people are not willing to step out of their comfort zone and put their votes where their keyboard is, then nothing is going to change. :) ))

BobbyKearan

Aug 22 2011