Oxford Releases ACT Report

OXFORD, Miss. – Oxford School District officials released the school district’s 2014 ACT Report, which continues to show Oxford High School seniors performing at the top of their class statewide in ACT entrance exam testing.

Information released from the Oxford School District 2014 ACT Report shows:

•Twenty-seven Oxford High School students in the 2014 graduating class scored a composite score of 30 or higher on the ACT.

•Two Oxford High School students in the 2014 graduating class scored a 36, the highest possible score, on the ACT. Six Oxford High School students in the 2014 graduating class scored a 35 on the ACT. Oxford High School led the state with the highest number of STAR (Student Teacher Achievement Recognition) students with eight STAR Students during the 2013-2014 school year. A graduating senior must score a 35 or higher on their ACT to be recognized as a STAR Student.

•One-hundred and ninety-eight out of 203 Oxford High School seniors, or 98 percent, in the 2014 graduating class took the ACT exam.

•The 2014 overall ACT composite score for Oxford High School’s 2014 graduating class was 21.8, higher than Mississippi’s composite score of 19.

Bill Hamilton, assistant superintendent for the Oxford School District, said that Oxford High School continues to rank anywhere from number one to number five in state ACT score rankings in each subject-test area over the past seven years even though state public education officials no longer keep record of ACT score rankings for school districts.

“ACT scores reflect the achievement of Oxford High School graduates on the ACT over time and is a strong indicator for whether or not students are prepared for college-level work,” said Hamilton. “We credit the high ACT average scores to our school students taking rigorous courses, as well as to our high school teachers who challenge our students to go the distance academically.”

The ACT college entrance exam gives an overall picture of how each student performed during their 12 years in school. The ACT is broken into sections where students are tested in their educational development in areas of English, mathematics, reading and science. The sections measure the skills students need for success in their first year of college coursework.

The Oxford School District’s 2014 ACT Report shows the percentage of ACT-tested students ready for college-level coursework:

•Sixty-seven percent of Oxford School District students scored college- or career-ready in English Composition compared to Mississippi’s 53 percent.

•Forty-four percent of Oxford School District students scored college- or career-ready in Algebra compared to Mississippi’s 21 percent.

•Forty-eight percent of Oxford School District students scored college- or career-ready in Social Science compared to Mississippi’s 31 percent.

•Thirty-eight percent of Oxford School District students scored college-or career-ready in Biology compared to Mississippi’s 21 percent.

•Twenty-nine percent of Oxford School District students scored college- or career-ready in all four subject-tested areas compared to Mississippi’s 12 percent.

For the first time last school year, school officials offered Oxford High School sophomores the ACT Prep course.

“The ACT prep course is offered this school year as well to offer academic betterment of all students,” said Hamilton. “Our high school sophomores now take this prep course so that they can continue to achieve academic success. Our teachers can help students become better prepared for not only the ACT college entrance exam, but college as well.”

This year, Oxford High School was named one of the Washington Post’s Most Challenging High Schools in the nation. The high school was also one of four Mississippi public high schools that made Newsweek’s list of “America’s Best High Schools” in 2013 compiled by Newsweek and The Daily Beast: the list ranks the best 2,000 public high schools in the nation that have proven to be the most effective in turning out college-ready graduates and bases the list on six factors, one of them is the school’s average SAT/ACT scores.