News

Local Catholic schools score higher than state, national averages on ACT

Continuing a long-running success story, students who graduated from Catholic high schools in the archdiocese in 2018 scored higher on average in the annual ACT exam than Nebraska seniors as a whole and across the country.

Scores also are higher in the archdiocese’s 17 high schools when they are broken out for students identifying themselves as black or African-American, Hispanic or Asian.

The archdiocese’s 1,185 graduating seniors scored a composite 24.4 on the ACT, while students statewide scored 20.1 and nationally 20.9. The highest possible score is 36.

African-American students in archdiocesan schools scored a composite 21.2; statewide it was 15.9. Latino students in Catholic schools had a composite 23.1; statewide, 17.4. Asian students in archdiocesan schools had 25.2; statewide, 21.

Michael Ashton, superintendent of Catholic schools, said he was impressed by efforts in schools across the archdiocese.

“We continue to be impressed by the joint efforts of our high schools, elementary schools and families to help our students maintain excellent scores on ACT exams. These numbers represent over 95 percent of our Catholic school graduating seniors,” he said.

“Even as our schools stretch resources to serve more (minority) students whose scores appear in disaggregated categories, those ACT numbers continue to rise and move higher from their peers outside of the Catholic schools.”

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