Record Number of DMPS Juniors Took ACT Exams; Two Members of Class of 2013 Earned a Perfect Score

A record number of juniors at Des Moines Public Schools took the ACT college entrance exam this past spring, and two members of the Class of 2013 scored perfect scores, according to information recently provided by American College Testing.

Des Moines Public Schools continues to give more and more students an opportunity to take the ACT assessment. The spring 2013 exam administration had the highest number of juniors tested to date, with a total of 1,732 students. This equals approximately 88 percent of DMPS juniors who took the ACT in the spring of 2013, an increase of 3 percent of students from the spring of 2012.

In 2009, Des Moines Public Schools became the first school district in Iowa to make the ACT exam available, free of charge, to all high school juniors.

Two members of the Class of 2013 – Nathan Leys and Luke Sheeley – received perfect composite scores of 36 on the ACT. Both students graduated from Roosevelt High School and took courses at Central Academy. Leys is now attending George Mason University and Sheeley is attending Cornell University.

“Administering the ACT is one step we take to help determine if graduates are college and career ready,” said Mary Grinstead, assessment supervisor for Des Moines Public Schools. “No matter what students dream of doing with their lives, being prepared for education after high school is the best plan. Providing a college entrance examine with critical feedback on student skills is essential to preparing students for life after high school.”

The following chart provides a summary of district-wide results since the ACT exam was made available to all students:

“There is a down side to the school district being more inclusive with the ACT: as more and more students take the exam overall scores will see slight declines compared to the past, when the ACT was exclusive to students who had definite plans to attend college,” added Grinstead. “But there are some positive exceptions to this trend. The best example is reading, which is an area of growth for both our district and many of our schools. This can be attributed to a renewed focus on reading interventions at the high school level, an effort that is starting to bear fruit with the success of our students.”

Highlights of positive trends between the ACT exams taken in 2012 and 2013 include: