LMSD/ECCC & ECODEVO Working Together to Improve Area ACT Scores

The Louisville Municipal School District met with officials from East Central Community College and Winston County Economic Development on Tuesday to formulate plans to help area students improve ACT test scores. Improved test scores means more students eligible for college admissions and more available scholarship options.

Principals from Louisville, Nanih Waiya and Noxapater listened as Gerald Mills, EcoDevo Director indicated that there were some limited funds available from a 2009 ARC grant that could be applied to the costs of ACT prep classes developed with ECCC. Assistant Superintendent Ken McMullan indicated that national ACT composite scores were 21.1 while statewide scores were at 18.7. Local scores are more difficult to determine because students outside of the district or the school systems can take the ACT at different locations. McMullan stated that "we want to make sure in our schools that we are promoting continued education with our students and helping with prep for ACT." He added that test prep workshops have been shown to help with ACT scores and that doing well on the ACT often means money in the student's pocket through scholarships.

Roger Whitlock of ECCC Workforce Education and Development indicated that ECCC was ready to work with the school system and offered three options for ACT test prep -

• from teaching courses on the ECCC campus with EC personnel and local teacher proctors.  
• providing the classes live through the video conferencing capabilities at the Career Advancement Center (Spartus location) with local LMSD teachers employed to guide students through the workshop.
• record the test prep classes and make them available to LMSD to teach at times of their choosing.

All parties agreed to work toward ACT prep classes that would be available well before the end of the school year. The workshops are expected to last for three hours with each hour covering English, Mathematics and Science. There are no direct statistics but anecdotal information indicates that the workshops do increase test scores by as much as 3-5 points.

W. McCully