The results of the state's latest ACT test show the number of Kansas students who are college-ready is on the decline.
Just 29 percent of Kansas high school students who graduated this year met the College Readiness Benchmarks for all four ACT subjects: English, Math, Reading and Science. The number has fallen the past couple of years, from a high of 32 percent in 2015.
A benchmark score indicates that a student has a 50 percent chance of getting a B or higher in a college course. English has a benchmark score of 18; math and reading each have a benchmark score of 22; and science has a benchmark score of 23.
Overall scores dipped, too, from an average of 21.9 last year to 21.7.
In a statement, Mark Tallman, associate executive director of the Kansas Association of School Boards, tied the falling scores to inadequate school funding from the state.
"Unfortunately, this year’s ACT results are further evidence that Kansas educational progress has stagnated at best, and begun to decline at worst,” he said.
A total of 24,741 college-bound Kansas students took the ACT this year, up from 24,488 last year.
--Follow Nadya Faulx on Twitter @NadyaFaulx.
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