To illustrate this concept, consider two states (Texas and Nebraska). Texas has very strong Type #1 State Standards, while Nebraska has very weak Type #2 State Standards. The Texas Standards are known as Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS for short).  Because the same “yardstick” (ACT tests) is being used for both Nebraska and Texas, the comparison is valid and quite revealing.

The ACT uses this method to determine if students are College Ready.  The ACT website explains:

The ACT reports College Readiness Benchmark Scores – A benchmark score is the minimum score needed on the ACT subject-area test to indicate a 50% chance of obtaining a B or higher or about a 75% chance of obtaining a C or higher in the corresponding credit-bearing college courses, which include English Composition, Algebra, Social Science, Biology, STEM and ELA.  These scores were empirically derived based on the actual performance of students in college.

Table 2 (Appendix) shows the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks for the 2021 Test.

Before the effectiveness of the two education types can be determined, the variables must be considered.  When comparing states, it is very important to consider two very important variables – the percentage of students tested and the minority percentages.

The ACT recognizes the importance of the percentages of students tested. The ACT report states:

The best practice is to compare states where the same or similar percentages of graduates were tested (e.g., Alabama 100% and Mississippi 100%, or Arizona 35% and Florida 34%).

Table 3 (in the Appendix) lists all of the states by their Composite Score rank.  Additionally, the Percent of Graduates Tested is listed in the fourth column. Table 3 shows a strong correlation between Test Scores and the percentage of graduates taking the ACT Tests. Most of the states near the top of the rankings have very low percentages. For example, the top five states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, and California) have percentages in the single digits (4 % – 9 %). At the lower end of the rankings, four of the bottom six states (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Nevada) have percentages at 98 % – 100 %.

Clearly, people must be careful when comparing states with vastly different percentages of graduates taking the ACT Tests. For example, it is foolish to compare Nebraska’s Rank of 34 with Massachusetts’ No. 1 Rank.  Nebraska tested 86 % of the high school graduates, while Massachusetts tested only 7 %!  This illustrates the classic “Apples and Oranges” comparison.

How do the 51 states compare on the most recent 2021 ACT Tests? Table 4 (in Appendix) lists the 51 states (50 states plus the District of Columbia) on the 2021 ACT Test.  In the Table, the states are ranked by their Average Composite Scores, with the highest scores listed first.

How about the other variable of minority percentages? Race and ethnicity clearly affect the test results.

Because minority groups often come from language-impoverished homes, they do not score very well on the various tests.   Accordingly, there is a strong correlation between high minority percentages and low test scores.  African Americans (Blacks) typically score lower on the national tests. In Hispanic households, English is often the second language.  Hence, many states offer English as a Second Language (ESL) courses.

Minority Percentages are not available for the 2021 ACT Tests.  Accordingly, 2017 data is provided in Table 5 (Appendix).

Nebraska has 17 % minority students (4 % + 13 % = 17 %).

Texas has 51 % minority students (10 % + 41 % = 51 %).

The National group has 30 % minority students (13 % + 17 % = 30 %).

Texas has three times the percentage of minorities as Nebraska and 1.7 times the percentage of minorities as the National picture.  Accordingly, a person would expect Texas to have much lower test scores than Nebraska.

How do Nebraska and Texas compare on the 2021 ACT Tests? Table 3 and Table 4 (Appendix) show that Nebraska and Texas have essentially identical ACT Test scores. The Average Composite Score is 20.0 for Nebraska and 20.1 for Texas. Likewise, the Test Scores for the four subjects are basically the same. Admittedly, a much smaller percentage of Texas graduates took the 2021 ACT Test than in Nebraska (23 % in Texas vs. 86 % in Nebraska). Even though the Texas percentage tested is smaller than Nebraska, the sample size is large with 146,608 Texas students being tested on the ACT.

What conclusion can be drawn from this comparison?  In spite of Texas having three times the number of minorities as Nebraska, Texas barely edged out Nebraska.

Is there a way to explain why Texas and Nebraska have almost identical ACT Test Scores?

The explanation is rather clear. Texas has very good Type #1 State Education Standards (fact-based, academic, and traditional). Whereas, Nebraska has mediocre Type #2 State Standards (subjective; emphasizes feelings, emotions, and opinions). Obviously, the superior Texas State Standards are making a real difference!

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