UPPER MARLBORO, MD – Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) students are making steady progress towards college readiness, as measured by scores on the 2012 ACT college-entrance exam. In addition, more students are taking the test, with participation increasing nearly 80 percent since 2008.

“Our schools continue to focus on preparing students for the rigors of college-level work,” said Verjeana M. Jacobs, Esq., Chair of the Prince George’s County Board of Education. “We have realigned our curriculum to state standards, expanded rigorous course offerings and adopted the Framework For Teaching model to give educators the feedback and training they need to be effective in the classroom.”

The ACT is slowly gaining popularity in the region as an alternative to the College Board’s SAT exam. Nationwide, 1.67 million seniors – or 52 percent of the graduating class – took the ACT. In PGCPS, 1,012 seniors – approximately 12 percent of the Class of 2012 – took the test. Four years ago, only 869 students took the ACT.

The ACT measures content knowledge in English, mathematics, reading and science. When students meet the benchmark score in a content area, it indicates readiness for college-level courses. A perfect composite score is 36. Prince George’s County’s average score rose from 17.2 in 2008 to 18.0 in 2012. State and national averages have held steady around 22 and 21, respectively, for the past five years.

PGCPS ACT Performance (2008-2012)