Mo. students best national average on ACT test

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Missouri students scored slightly higher than the national average this year on the ACT college readiness exam.

The ACT consists of four tests in English, math, reading and science. Each test is scored on a scale from 1 to 36, with scores averaged to create a composite score.

This year's average composite score in Missouri was 21.6, half a point higher than the national average of 21.1.

Seventy-one percent of Missouri graduates in the class of 2011 took the test, compared with 49 percent nationally.

Scores are generally highest in states with the lowest percentages of students taking the exam.

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Online:

ACT: http://www.act.org