ACT scores and Mississippi

Well, ACT data for the Class of 2011 has been released (see here), and with some trepidation, let's take a look at how Mississippi compares.  According to the report:

• 52% of Mississippi students are ready for College English Composition courses (vs 66% Nationally)
• 20% of Mississippi students are ready for College Algebra courses (vs 45% Nationally)
• 33% of Mississippi students are ready for College Social Science courses (vs. 52% Nationally)
• 13% of Mississippi students are ready for College Biology courses (vs 30% Nationally)
• 10% of Mississippi students meet all 4 ACT benchmarks (vs 25% Nationally)

It is argued that such a comparison is inappropriate because Mississippi requires all students to take the ACT and many other states do not.  In fact, Mississippi is one of only eight states reporting 100% of all graduates taking the ACT.  Indeed, of the top ten states with the highest Average Composite Score, only Minnesota reported testing over 50% of graduates.  So let's look at the group of eight states that reported testing 100% of graduates together (see below).

The Mississippi scores are still lower, but not by the margins implied by the national comparison.