October 2, 2012

I recently received the above headline from a parent at our church who has a daughter attending school in the Cobb County Schools (GA) “Top National Averages in All Subject Areas of 2012 ACT.” The article notes:

“While Cobb’s six-year trend of rising composite scores came to an end, last year’s seniors still managed to post a composite score of 22.2, 1.5 points higher than their Georgia peers (20.7) and one point higher than the national average (21.1).”

Since many colleges and universities award full scholarships to students with ACT scores of 25 or above, and, as a property owner and resident of the county, I decided to compare the county data (Cobb County School District ACT Summary Report) against the 2012 ACT National Data to determine if the high schools that I support through my property taxes, and where many of the youth in our church currently attend school, are performing as well as the school system asserts.

Before comparing the county data against the national data, I discovered a huge performance gap within the county itself. While the average ACT Composite score of 22.2 in Cobb County is 1.5 points (7.2 percent) higher than the Georgia average of 20.7, I discovered that the ACT Composite score of the high school with the highest average, Walton (25.6), is 8.9 points (53.3 percent) higher than the high school within the county with the lowest composite score, Osborne (16.7).

In the article, the Cobb County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Michael Hinojosa, is quoted as saying:

“The performance on the ACT clearly shows our students are well-prepared for college-level work and can compete with students from anywhere in the country.”

I was particularly interested in whether the superintendent’s statement that “our students are well-prepared for college-level work” applied to all students in the county, and particularly those students attending Turner Chapel African American Episcopal Churchwhere I co-chair the Education Ministry.

Subsequently, I reviewed the ACT performance for each high school against the ACT Benchmark Scores (indicating that a student is considered “college ready”) to determine how well the county schools are performing against other states in the country and between schools in the county.

The average ACT Composite score (22.2) for Cobb County Schools is lower than the average composite score for the following 14 states:

  1. 24.1 – Massachusetts
  2. 23.8 – Connecticut
  3. 23.8 – New Hampshire
  4. 23.4 – Maine
  5. 23.4 – New Jersey
  6. 23.3 – New York
  7. 23.0 – Vermont
  8. 22.9 – Rhode Island
  9. 22.9 – Washington
  10. 22.8 – Minnesota
  11. 22.6 – Delaware
  12. 22.4 – Pennsylvania
  13. 22.4 – Virginia
  14. 22.3 – Indiana

I then reviewed the ACT performance for each high school in the county against the ACT Benchmark Scores (indicating that a student is considered “college ready”):

  • English – 18
  • Mathematics – 22
  • Reading – 21
  • Science – 24

Only 1 high school in the county had an average score demonstrating college readiness in all four subject areas (Walton ), no other high school in the county met the college readiness standard in Science, and 3 high schools (Osborne, Pebblebrook, and McEachern) had average scores lower than the college readiness standard in all subject areas.

Following is the breakdown of scores for each high school. If the number is in bold, then it does not meet the ACT Benchmark Score [The state ranking was taken from the website www.schooldigger.com]:

Walton (Composite Score 25.6): State Ranking (6)

  • English – 25.6
  • Math – 26.0
  • Reading – 25.7
  • Science – 24.6

Lassiter (Composite Score 24.6): State Ranking (4)

  • English – 24.3
  • Math – 24.8
  • Reading – 25.0
  • Science – 23.9

Pope (Composite Score 24.6): State Ranking (8)

  • English – 24.5
  • Math – 24.6
  • Reading – 25.0
  • Science – 23.8

Kennesaw Mountain (Composite Score 23.8): State Ranking (20)

  • English – 23.3
  • Math – 23.4
  • Reading – 24.1
  • Science – 23.7

Wheeler (Composite Score 23.5): State Ranking (62)

  • English – 22.9
  • Math – 23.6
  • Reading – 24.0
  • Science – 23.2

Harrison (Composite Score 23.2): State Ranking (11)

  • English – 23.0
  • Math – 23.0
  • Reading – 23.5
  • Science – 22.9

Hillgrove (Composite Score 22.3): State Ranking (23)

  • English – 22.0
  • Math – 21.9
  • Reading – 23.1
  • Science – 21.8

Allatoona (Composite Score 21.8): State Ranking (27)

  • English – 21.2
  • Math – 21.4
  • Reading – 22.6
  • Science – 21.8

Kell (Composite Score 21.7): State Ranking (74)

  • English – 21.0
  • Math – 21.4
  • Reading – 22.1
  • Science – 21.6

Sprayberry (Composite Score 21.3): State Ranking (46)

  • English – 20.7
  • Math – 20.9
  • Reading – 21.9
  • Science – 21.0

Campbell (Composite Score 20.6): State Ranking (83)

  • English – 20.1
  • Math – 20.7
  • Reading – 20.8
  • Science – 20.2

North Cobb (Composite Score 20.5): State Ranking (69)

  • English – 19.9
  • Math – 19.8
  • Reading – 21.2
  • Science – 20.7

South Cobb (Composite Score 18.7): State Ranking (190)

  • English – 18.2
  • Math – 18.5
  • Reading – 19.2
  • Science – 18.5

McEachern (Composite Score 18.5): State Ranking (138)

  • English – 17.8
  • Math – 17.7
  • Reading – 18.7
  • Science – 18.9

Pebblebrook (Composite Score 18.5): State Ranking (161)

  • English – 17.9
  • Math – 18.1
  • Reading – 18.9
  • Science – 18.6

Osborne (Composite Score 16.7): State Ranking (195)

  • English – 15.5
  • Math – 16.9
  • Reading – 16.8
  • Science – 17.0

Finally, I went to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics website to determine if the Superintendent’s reference to “our children” was referring to students in our church.

“The performance on the ACT clearly shows our students are well-prepared for college-level work and can compete with students from anywhere in the country.”

Since our church is predominately African American, clearly, if students in our church are among the 153 Black students attending Walton High School, they are much more likely to be college ready than if they are among the 789 Black students attending Osborne High School.

Walton (Composite Score 25.6)

  • 1953 White
  • 393 Asian
  • 153 Black
  • 95 Hispanic
  • 2 Native American
  • 7.3 percent dropout rate (difference between the number of entering 9th graders and remaining 12th grades)

Osborne (Composite Score 16.7)

  • 803 Hispanic
  • 789 Black
  • 135 White
  • 40 Asian
  • 5 Native American
  • 44.6 percent dropout rate (difference between the number of entering 9th graders and remaining 12th grades)

In 2012, the Cobb County Schools Composite Scores for Black, White, and Hispanic students decreased from the year before. The scores also reflect that the average score for the highest performing racial group, Asian (25.2), is 6.3 points (33.3 percent) higher than the average score for the lowest performing racial group, Black (18.9):

  • 25.2 – Asian
  • 24.1 – White
  • 20.6 – Hispanic
  • 20.3 – Native American
  • 18.9 – Black

Whenever schools and school districts suggest that students are doing well, it is the responsibility of each parent to ask, “How are students like my child performing and what can the school or school district do to assist me in ensuring that my child is learning what he or she needs to know to be prepared for college?”

Read Aimee Sachs Marietta Journal Article…

Click here to download the 2012 Cobb County ACT Performance Data…

Click here to download the 2012 National ACT Performance Data…