Glossary-2014 ACT Report

The terms described below are listed in the order in which they appear in the headings.

Background

The California Department of Education (CDE) receives student-level ACT data from ACT, Inc. 2014 was the first year that ACT data were merged with student-level data in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS). These data were aggregated to produce the school, district, county, and state-level reports.

The ACT Report includes only California public schools that had: (1) at least one student taking the ACT exam or (2) zero students taking the ACT exam but had enrollment in grades nine, ten, eleven, and/or twelve. The enrollment information was based on data submitted by local educational agencies (LEAs) and maintained in the CALPADS.

Scores for schools that had fewer than 11 students taking the ACT exam are not shown on the ACT Report in order to preserve the anonymity of the students.

ACT scores range from 1 to 36 points.

ACT Report

Enrollment 9—12

Enrollment was based on the number of students reported as enrolled in grades nine, ten, eleven, and/or twelve by LEAs in CALPADS as of Fall Census Day in October 2013. (Note: The enrollment does not include "ungraded" students.)

Number Tested

This column reflects the number of students with ACT exam scores as reported by ACT, Inc. (Note: The school name inputted by the student on the ACT exam was used by ACT, Inc. to generate the high school (HS) code. The CDE used the HS code and the school name to identify the school’s county-district-school [CDS] code in order to link the students' ACT scores to the appropriate schools.)

Average Score: Reading

The average reading score was calculated by summing the students' reading ACT scores and dividing by the "Number Tested."

Average Score: English

The average English score was calculated by summing the students' English ACT scores and dividing by the "Number Tested."

Average Score: Math

The average math score was calculated by summing the students' math ACT scores and dividing by the "Number Tested."

Average Score: Science

The average science score was calculated by summing the students' science ACT scores and dividing by the "Number Tested."

Number of Scores >=21

This was the number of students who scored 21 points or more on the composite score. The composite score was taken from the data file received from ACT, Inc.

Percent of Scores >=21

The percent was calculated by dividing the "Number of Scores >=21" by the "Number Tested."