The Arkansas State Board of Education recently recognized Fayetteville High School and nine other high schools in Northwest Arkansas for student performance on the 2009 ACT exam.
A total of 38 Arkansas high schools received the College Readiness Award for 2009 by increasing the ACT composite score by a full point or more and also increasing local participation in the exam.
The state education board adopted a resolution during its meeting Monday to recognize the schools.
Other recognized high schools in Washington, Benton and Madison counties include: Ozark Adventist Academy in Gentry; Huntsville; Shiloh Christian School in Springdale; West Fork; Elkins; Gravette; Farmington; Pea Ridge; and Prairie Grove.
Barbara Prichard, director of Fayetteville’s gifted and talented program, said she didn’t know how the award was calculated but noted “there is a correlation between quality of coursework and performance on the ACT exam.”
About one-third of the students at Fayetteville High School, or about 600 students, are taking at least one Advanced Placement course this year, she said.
“The quality and rigor (of the courses) have a direct impact on ACT and SAT scores,” Prichard said.
The two exams, ACT and SAT, are considered the premiere college admission tests.
The ACT is a curriculum-based measure of college readiness.
Some 22,523 Arkansas graduates in the class of 2009 took the ACT Assessment at least once during high school with the composite score of 20.6, a 10-year high, according to ACT Inc.
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