Students in Vestavia Hills City Schools raised the district’s average composite ACT score for the second consecutive year, scoring more than five points higher than the state composite average, ACT reported Wednesday. In the 2013-14 academic year, 433 Vestavia Hills students took the ACT. Those students scored an average composite of 25.8 on a 36-point scale. The average composite for the 37,985 students statewide who took the test was 20.6, according to ACT.
This marks the second year in a row that Vestavia Hills students raised the district’s ACT average. VHCS students scored an average composite of 25.6 in 2013 and 25.3 from 2010 to 2012. ACT also announced Wednesday that 58 percent of Vestavia Hills test-takers had met or surpassed all four of its “college readiness benchmark scores,” which ACT defines as the scores needed to indicate a 50 percent chance of earning a B or higher in college-level English, algebra, social science and biology. More than two-thirds of Vestavia Hills students met or surpassed at least one of the college readiness benchmark scores, ACT reported. By comparison, only 21 percent of test-takers statewide met the benchmarks in all four areas.
“We are proud of the hard work that has gone into preparing our students for this standard of success and for their postsecondary endeavors,” Vestavia Hills Superintendent Sheila Phillips said. “We will continue to focus on providing educational experiences that prepare our students for this level of assessment.”
