ACT results from the state and district level were released online on August 23. The complete data is available at fusion.edu.wyoming.gov.

KJSHS principal Orlen Zempel presented the district’s results at the Lincoln County School District No.1 board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 11.

“Three years ago, our scores put us as one of the top districts in the state,” Zempel told the board. “This is the first year in eight years that our ACT scores are below the state average.”

In Wyoming, 5,976 students took the ACT in spring 2018. The ACT is scored on a scale of 1-36. The state average composite score was 19.5.

Kemmerer Junior Senior High School, which tested 28 students in the spring of 2018, scored an average composite score of 19. When the ACT scores from New Frontier High School were factored in, LCSD No. 1’s average composite score was 18.4. That’s a drop from KJSHS’ average composite score of 19.5 in 2017, which matched the state average.

“We measure annual progress with the ACT for our juniors, the WY-TOPP for our sophomores, and our completion and dropout rates,” Zempel said.

KJSHS scored an average of 17.1 on the English portion of the ACT, 18.9 in math, 19.2 in reading and 20.0 in science. With NFHS factored in, the district scored an average of 16.9 in English, 18.3 in math, 18.8 in reading and 19.2 in science.

Wyoming’s average scores were 18.4 in English, 19.3 in math, 19.9 in reading and 19.8 in science.

According to a release from the Wyoming Department of Education, “statewide results show a statistically insignificant decrease in the average composite score and in each subject area.”

After presenting the results, Zempel discussed potential reasons for the district’s lower scores.

“We had several foreign exchange students take the test last year, and they scored low in the language portion of the test,” Zempel said. “But we still would’ve been below the Wyoming average without the foreign exchange students.”

“I think we’re doing great things, we can do better,” Zempel continued. “In the long run, this might be a good wake-up call.”

LCSD No. 1 school board chairman Don Lamborn agreed.

“I hope it serves as a wake-up call, because it’s unacceptable where we’re scoring on this ACT,” Lamborn said.

Zempel then presented the school board with what the high school and the district would do next to improve scores.

“We changed to a 5x5 block schedule this year because we do want to concentrate on that language and math core,” Zempel said.

The KJSHS principal said the district may require all juniors to take the ACT in February.

“If we do require that, and if we place a certain ACT score as a requirement for graduation, we will need to fund that,” Zempel said.

Zempel also said “motivation is an issue” that could be contributing to the lower test scores.

“We have brainstormed over our ‘junior dropoff’ culture issue,” Zempel said. “As a staff, we have the skills to change this, but there does need to be a change intrinsically within the community.

“It’s our job as teachers to get the students to want to perform,” Zempel continued. “We need to have that growth mindset in order to improve, and our staff is well-trained in that.”

The next LCSD No. 1 school board meeting is on Tuesday, Oct. 9, at 7:00 p.m. at the administration building on Adaville Drive in Diamondville.

Superintendent Teresa Chaulk said the schools would have an in-depth discussion of the results of other standardized tests.