Recent New Jersey Grads Spent Half Of High School 'Under The Shadow Of The Pandemic'

By Bob Pepalis | The Center Square contributor, The Center Square New Jersey

October 26, 2022

(The Center Square) – "The pandemic’s impact on students was undeniable when looking at ACT scores for 2022 high school graduates," a representative of the nonprofit education organization said.

"The national average ACT composite score for the high school class of 2022 was 19.8. That was the lowest average score in more than 30 years," according to data released in early October by ACT, the nonprofit organization that administers the college readiness exam.

“I think especially when you think about these students who graduated in 2022, as they were sophomores in March 2020 when schools closed, but these are students who spent more than half of their high school career under the shadow of the pandemic,” Rose Babington, ACT’s senior director for state partnerships, told The Center Square.

"Students experienced different types of challenges and disruptions during those two years. Those students who faced systemic challenges and hardships were more seriously impacted by the pandemic and its disruption to learning," she said.

"The average ACT composite score from 2021 to 2022 dropped a half point," she said, "falling to 24.6. That matched the national numbers as well."

“So, in that lens, New Jersey students are very much aligned with what's happening nationally,” Babington said.

"But the declines are more evidence of longtime system failures that the pandemic made worse," CEO Janet Godwin said in a release. More than 40% of high school seniors who took the ACT failed to meet any of its four college readiness benchmarks.

“The piece that I think is important to shine a light on in New Jersey, is that the percentage of students testing is a fairly small percentage of the overall graduating class of all New Jersey students,” she said.

"Only 12% of New Jersey students took the ACT, which means it represents very different populations of student testing," she said.

"The New Jersey Education Association doesn’t monitor the results of the ACT very closely," a representative of the organization told The Center Square.

“We have long held that neither the SAT nor the ACT is a particularly accurate predictor of college success,” the NJEA’s Steven Baker said. “That said New Jersey students typically outperform students from most other states on the SAT and ACT.”

"Far fewer New Jersey students take the ACT than take the SAT," he said. "And the rate of students taking either test dropped dramatically now that more colleges make the tests optional," he said. "That makes drawing conclusions impossible."

"With only 12% of New Jersey students taking the ACT, it’s tough for schools or districts to look at the full picture of their students to gauge where they are performing to what is being taught to become informed on what they do every day," Babington said.

"Students and their families can use ACT results to show universities what they know to offer another reason to admit them, particularly in light of the pandemic," she said. "While the students are still in high school, they can use the results to help them realize in what areas they needed to do better by mapping their strengths and weaknesses. And then they can work on their weaknesses to improve college acceptance and success as a student."

“I think that's the opportunity for students to kind of advocate for themselves and get some information about where they fall is really critical, especially after the disruption of the last few years,” she said.

"ACT results can help with scholarships and placement in college classes," Babington said.

The focus of the work of The Center Square New Jersey is state and local-level government and economic reporting that approaches stories with a taxpayer sensibility.