Sidney tops national mark on ACT scores

Even with 100 percent of its students taking the ACT, Sidney High School students still scored higher on the test than the national average.

Sidney’s graduating class of 2014 achieved a composite score of 21.5, while the national composite score was 21. The highest possible score on the test is 36. Nationally, only 57 percent of high school students take the test, which serves as the college entrance exam for most schools in the midwest.

Although Sidney scored slightly below the state of Nebraska’s composite score of 21.7, only 86 percent of Nebraska students take the test. Of the 17 states with 80 percent or more students taking the ACT, Nebraska scored the highest, according to the Nebraska Department of Education.

Sidney is part of an eight school district pilot program statewide where schools test 100 percent of students. These include Sidney, South Sioux City, Columbus, Lincoln, Hastings, Alliance, Gering and Scottsbluff.

“We’re higher than every other state that tests 100 percent across the board,” said Sidney High School Principal Chris Arent.

Among states testing all students, North Carolina was on the low end with a score of 18.9 while Utah scored 20.8 on the high end.

Sidney students also faired better than the rest of the nation in college readiness. Students must meet a particular benchmark on the test to prove that they’re poised for success in higher education.

In college English, 76 percent of Sidney students met the benchmark, where in the whole state 72 percent met the benchmark and nationally only 64 percent of students met that goal.

“For us testing 100 percent of our students and to have that many at or above the benchmark score, I think that’s absolutely phenomenal,” Arent said.

Sidney scored above the national and Nebraska averages for college readiness in college algebra and college social sciences. Sidney was below Nebraska but above the national average for college biology.

“Some of the other schools are just testing college-going kids,” Arent said. “This is literally 100 percent of our student body taking this test. To me that is very impressive and I could not be happier with our students and our staff in how they prepare themselves for it.”

Arent believes there are several factors in Sidney’s success on the ACT.

“I think our staff does a great job of having very high expectations for our students and I think our families support high expectations for our students,” Arent said.

The community also expects its kids to do well on the tests, he said.

“I think when you have those three pieces, a strong expectation at school, a strong expectation with families and a strong expectation with the community, that’s a very supportive environment for our students to do well academically,” Arent said.

The junior class takes the ACT in March of each year, which means most of the results for the class of 2014 came from a test taken in spring 2013. The students do have the opportunity to re-take the test.

During their junior year, Sidney students take part in ACT prep questions during classes. Teachers prepare the students for the types of things they will see on the test. Teachers are also available to help students prepare outside of class.

The pilot program that Sidney is participating in was originally meant to end with the class of 2015 but has been extended another two years. Kids who go to schools that don’t participate in the program must travel to a college campus to take the test and pay for it, while Sidney students take the test at school for free. Arent believes the pilot program is beneficial to the school and the students.

Sometimes students who aren’t sure if they can make it in college take the test and do better than expected. This gives them the boost to decide to move on to higher education.

“We have success stories where students score better than what they had anticipated,” Arent said.

This opens the door for not only admissions but for access to grants and scholarships to pay for schooling.

“To see that moment when they’re proud of themselves for doing so well, it’s a great experience as an educator,” he said.

Despite its high scores, Sidney can’t sit back and rest now, Arent said.

“I think that’s a pretty dangerous trap to fall in,” he said. “We have to continue to do things that helped us be successful.”

Portions of the ACT test do not match up with Sidney’s curriculum, which is something the school could work on, Arent said.

“We have the Nebraska state standards,” Arent said. “That really is what drives our curriculum. The ACT doesn’t necessarily match up with that.”