https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/national-act-scores-for-class-2018-worst-decades-officials-say/EKA05C3FHcjN4bx8BmcC2N/

We started our research by just typing our question of interest (Is the true mean ACT scores for seniors greater than 24?) on Google. We found several links, but this link seemed more reliable because it was from a news channel. ACT officials said there was a notable increase of 2018 Ohio graduates who scored at the 90th percentile or higher, compared to 2017 graduates. The composite scores dropped from 22 to around 20. This addresses part of our research topic of whether the ACT scores are higher than 24. Obviously the average is much lower based on the article.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/08/24/average-act-scores-drop-more-people-take-test

https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2018/10/more_ohio_students_took_the_ac.html

We continued our search by looking through other articles and we found an article that was more related to our topic. The article described senior ACT scores and how they have dropped in past few years. This was more helpful because our question of interest focuses on senior ACT scores. The article also described that the drop has significant because more and more students are taking the test. The ACT has became a significant factor for college admissions which is why more and more students are taking the test.

We also found another articles on cleveland.com which also described a similar trend. It stated, “The drop was anticipated because of the increased number of students taking the test, wrote Ohio Department of Higher Education spokesman Jeff Robinson in an email”.

http://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/ACT_RR89-5.pdf

In order to find studies related to our topic, we typed “ACT scores and Seniors”. We didn’t a study, but we found a report that analyzed students’ curriculum in high school, their grades, and their ACT scores. They also describe their background research about previous studies that were conducted comparing coursework and grades. The article related to our topic because the sample included high school seniors. Their conclusion don’t really apply to us because they compared the ACT scores to school work which doesn’t apply to our question of interest.

http://leadershipblog.act.org/2017/07/what-research-says-about-effects-of.html?m=1

Continuing our research we also found studies about how to get higher scores the official ACT website says there have been about 30 published studies on the impact of test preparation. The results were consistent through all 30 studies  the studies say that students who take test preparation classes score between 25-32 on average. ACT describes that it is very difficult to describe the actual factors that affect the scores. Research studies can be done but sometimes they are difficult to perform or interpret the results. Also, it would be difficult to find the correct samples and correct method to perform the study. Our research won’t be as hard because there would be less extraneous factors.[1]