Multiple Ann Arbor students receive 'top scores' on ACT
Nine students from the Ann Arbor Public School District's class of 2013 earned a 36 -- the highest possible score -- on the ACT college admissions exam.
Several students in Washtenaw County scored a 36 on the ACT.
In addition to the nine Ann Arbor students from the class of 2013, six from the class of 2014 and two from the class of 2015 also received a top score on the exam, which is made up of four multiple-choice tests: English, mathematics, reading and science, as well as an optional writing test. One student each from Saline High School, the Early College Alliance in Ypsilanti and Father Gabriel High School in Ann Arbor Township earned a top score as well.
Of the more than 1.8 million students in the United States who took the exam this year, only 1,162 earned a composite score of 36. On average, less than one-tenth of one percent of all test takers earn the top score, according to ACT Public Relations Representative Katie Wacker.
While a top score is a rare and remarkable achievement, it is not uncommon for Ann Arbor Public Schools to have multiple students receive a 36 in one year, Ann Arbor Public Schools Spokeswoman Liz Nowland-Margolis said.
“We're very proud of those students and their success. We're always proud of our students, although this is actually a little bit of a down year for us,” Margolis said. "We're used to seeing multiple students receive a perfect score."
Huron High School Principal Arthur Williams said the number of students receiving top scores are similar to past years.
“Typically we have between 4 and 5 students at Huron score a 36 each year,” Williams said. “We even had 11 students receive a top score in 2011. I would say that’s atypical for most schools. It’s not normal for schools to have any students receive a top score, actually.”
Eighty-five students at Huron High School scored in the 95th percentile, which means they received a score of 30 or higher, Williams said.
“For the Michigan graduating class of 2013, 81 students scored a top score of 36,” Wacker said. “A composite score of 36 is a remarkable achievement. Even one student scoring a 36 at any given school is something for that student, the student’s parents and the school to be proud of.”
Williams said the success of students is a group effort
“It has a lot to do with this community,” Williams said of the student’s success. “This is a community where there is excellence not only in the educational environment, but also in the homes of the students.”
The curriculum also lends a hand to the students’ test taking abilities, Williams said.
“We have numerous advanced placement courses available and those rigorous classes help to prepare students,” Williams said. “It’s a wonderful place for students to come to each day, to work in and do well in.”
Chelsea Hoedl is an intern reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at choedl@mlive.com.
Comments
say it plain
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:23 p.m.
High standardized test scores represent a nice achievement, but not one that can be taken to reflect the quality of a school system. These are *not* tests that the schools help students prepare for specifically, and I'd bet if each student who achieved scores in the 90th percentile and above were surveyed, they'd indicate that almost nothing about their high-school classroom experiences did anything to help them in that regard. Indeed, they'd probably say that the busy-work with which they are too often charged as homework and classwork was an *obstacle* to them as they prepared for these tests. How Ann Arbor students do on AP test performance would really be a better gauge of how well the schools are doing, while ACT and SAT scores are likely far more related to how many test-prep centers we have in town. How supported *all* our students feel as they plan their post-AAPS lives would be another good gauge of what role the schools play in any of this "achievement" , and I would guess that the answer there might be *eye-opening* , for the comprehensive high schools anyhow!
a2schoolparent
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:06 p.m.
Congratulations to all these students and families. Ann Arbor has many families who care about education, and who have the means to provide their children the learning resources needed for them to excel. There are also many community resources for these students. The more worrisome issue concerns those students who don't have such strong family support and/or such resources. The quality of the local schools can be seen better by graduation rates, achievement gap, etc. than how many students got 36 in ACT.
TryingToBeObjective
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 3:52 a.m.
My kids ACT scores were in the 30s. I credit him, not AAPS. A few of his school years were a complete waste of time, with teachers past their prime. Sure, he's had some great teachers, but he's the one who has done the work. Plus, some kids do well on standardized tests, and others do not. Some kids have a good work ethic, and others do not. Does anyone remember who had perfect ACT scores last year? I don't. They are just one component of a kids potential. Watching my kid become independent, try things outside of his comfort zone (arts and acting), and be a well- rounded scholar student athlete (while some teammates were blowing off their homework and grades) were more important than his ACT score. Every kid has different strengths.
Moose
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 3 a.m.
Congratulations to these students! I agree, however, that they should be recognized by name; I don't think AAPS plays as much of a role in these kids' top scores as the article implies.
A2centsworth
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:10 a.m.
I congratulate the students, they have worked hard and deserve to be honored by name. But I think it is shameful that the school system is trying to take the credit here.
A2centsworth
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:05 a.m.
What I am hearing is out of over 8,000 high school students in the district only 9 got the high scores? How can the school system take credit for that as with any type of study that small a number would be considered an anomaly.
blue85
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 6:43 p.m.
"Um, it's a standardized test. The number of perfect scores is limited and there's a normal distribution." As angry moderate notes: 1) there is a normal distribution at play here; 2) the mean of the sample means approaches the population mean in a large enough sample; 3) in this sized sample, the other moments (variance, skew and kurtosis) are probably all well represented. Given the foregoing, it is possible to form conditional expectations: 1) if 1/10 of 1% out of 5400 scores a perfect score then, a priori, you'd expect 5.4 to be perfect; 2) if more than 5.4 score perfectly, then you can run some t-tests or F-tests to check for validity of the hypothesis that this school delivers exceptional results. So if the test shows the number of perfect scores is related to chance, the school can take no credit; and vice versa. Bottom line is that the size of the tail is small, but you can test the tail against or relative to the rest of the distribution. Doing an analysis of the tail itself is far harder and requires advanced techniques.
Susie Q
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 10:48 a.m.
AAPS doesn't have anywhere near 8000 high school students......maybe 5400 or so. And 85 of the approx 400 Huron students taking the test scored in the top 95%.
Angry Moderate
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:59 a.m.
Um, it's a standardized test. The number of perfect scores is limited and there's a normal distribution.
Andrew
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:18 a.m.
I never took the SAT (or ACT or MEAP...), and never regretted not taking them.
J. A. Pieper
Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:43 p.m.
AAPS probably won't supply any additional information about these students, and everyone here knows why. One group might make up the majority of the students scoring the 36, while another group will be conspicuously absent. We all know what group scores well going through Huron, you can see this when they share end of heart academic honors. We all should be proud of our students who do well, but remember to give credit to the families who instill a love of learning in their children!
A2centsworth
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:09 a.m.
and parents who spend time with their kids teaching them to respect education. Ann Arbor school system is so very lacking, and to attempt to take credit for these 9 kids success is ridiculous.
UloveM
Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 6:25 p.m.
Chelsea, Please provide us a racial data of the students who received ACT scores 30 or high.
KateT
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:42 a.m.
Well, the Huron High student who scored a 31 and who lives here has a Caucasian Mom and Hispanic Dad.
aamom
Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:59 p.m.
Congrats to these students and their parents. They should be very proud! I would be curious to know how many of these kids went to AAPS for elementary and middle school. I know we get a lot of kids back from private schools for high school. We know many people who left AAPS due to the lack of a challenging curriculum in elementary school, stayed through middle school, and then hopped back out to AAPS because they are known to have good AP classes.
aamom
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 5:25 p.m.
Thanks for the info KateT and congrats to you and your daughter on her success!
KateT
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:39 a.m.
As to one of the Huron High School/95th percentile students, 3 years of Spiritus Sanctus Academy, the rest Carpenter/Scarlett/Huron. At Spiritus Sanctus, she started kindergarten not being able to read at all and came out of kindergarten reading at the fourth grade level. We "hopped in" to AAPS when Mr. Collins took the wheel at Carpenter.
aaparent
Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:38 p.m.
@aamom -- Great question that I hope it gets answered. I have noticed, too, that many of the to students who graduate from AAPS in high school have gone out for more challenging curriculum sometime during elementary or middle school. Some students return for AAPS high school and some do not. I would also like to see the full list of students and the high schools they are enrolled in now. Congratulations to all the students!
PeteM
Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4 p.m.
Congratulations to all of the students. I think I'd read earlier that 4-5 of the 9 were from Huron -- the article isn't clear on this year's distribution. In any case, as a Huron grad from long ago I'm happy to see the River Rats do so well (and to get some recognition in AnnArbor.com which seems to focus on Pioneer and Skyline more than Huron). Go Rats.
Claude Kershner
Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:59 p.m.
Does the district have a breakdown by nationality and gender of these outstanding students?
Angry Moderate
Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:37 p.m.
Funny, the one time AAPS doesn't publish racial data.
Claude Kershner
Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 1:48 p.m.
Would it be possible to break down the results by gender and nationality? My guess is that would be quite revealing.
blue85
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 6:35 p.m.
No, it wouldn't: if you partition a sample of fewer than 10 into several subsets on a binary basis, the ability to draw significant distributional attributes out of the population is close to zero.
PhillyCheeseSteak
Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 1:11 p.m.
Congratulations to these mysterious, un-named students!
Billy
Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 12:16 p.m.
Maybe I'm just that guy....but um...I got a 36 (although I could swear it was 42 when I took it) during Midwest Talent Search or whatever that stupid program was...I was like 13 at the time.... Never understood these "standardized tests." I REALLY hope they've changed the questions since I took it. The questions are all really basic for some reason.
Steve Bean
Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 11:50 a.m.
Adults, please consider what you do with this information. Will you use it to "sell" our schools? If so, what are you really thinking about these students? Love (and happiness) or pride (and stress)? It can't be both.
Salbolal
Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 11:50 a.m.
And the State of Michigan recently gave Huron a "red" status.
Gorc
Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 12:11 p.m.
Salbolal....keep in mind that score card (Reward and Priority labels) that were released recently graded the schools by the margin between their top tier students and bottom tier students. And if the gap is too wide, thus a bad rating. Huron's top tier students can compete with any other schools top students nationwide.
Christine Stead
Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 11:39 a.m.
It's wonderful to see coverage like this for the AAPS. As noted in the story, students across our district (all three comprehensive high schools and Community) have performed at this level. Each year we have students achieving at this level. Thanks for highlighting the great work that truly is a culmination of effort from our students and their families, our teachers, administrators and the mentors in this community that inspire our students.