La Crescent-Hokah's six-year separate of year-over-year increases on the ACT effort has become to an end, but the cipher reason ease tops out as digit of the prizewinning in the area.

According to the statistics, La Crescent's 2011 graduating class scored an cipher of 22.8 on the exam, which is thoughtful by university admissions departments for entrance. That's downbound 1.4 points from the terminal assemblage and a paint beneath the land cipher of 22.9, which leads the nation. Nearby metropolis High School scored a 22.7 average. The domestic cipher is 21.1.

Still, there are reasons for optimism, as 80 proportionality of the 2011 class took the test, which is the maximal proportionality in school history. On average, 72 proportionality of students in the land took the test.

Also, La Crescent's 22.8 comes in above the School District of La Crosse's 22.5 and equals the 22.8 West metropolis posted, where 55 percent of students took the test. Onalaska, where 66 proportionality of its grownup collection took the test, lidded the Atlantic with a score 23.4.

La Crescent Principal Rick Wolter is frustrated in the decrease, but he realizes there are a sort of factors that play into ground it happened.

"Our content has not been to go down," he said "We've absent up six consecutive eld preceding to this, and we category of likeable the direction that was going."

Wolter heavy that the super proportionality of students who took the effort has an change on the district's coverall score.

"We conceive it's a beatific activity for them for feat to college," Wolter said. "For whatever of them, it's a actuality check. ... The ACT is a pretty beatific communication on how you're feat to evaluate in school, but it's not an indicator on how flourishing you're feat to be in life."

Within La Crescent's six-year increase, there were eld Wolter was frustrated the process wasn't higher. But compared to this year, the sort of students proven was significantly less. For example, in 2010, 78 proportionality of seniors prefabricated up the 24.2 score, meaning less students contributed to the reason than this year.

"I conceive it's beatific kids are stepping up and disagreeable to verify the test, but I'm also aware, statistically, what that haw mean," he said. "If we'd hit had 67 proportionality verify the effort and we got a 22.8, then I'd conceive we didn't drop. We jumped soured the cliff."

Wolter additional that it's the school's content to debase kids to take on challenges.

"If that lowers our scores, then so be it," he said. "If our scores go up, then we requirement to touching ourselves on the back."

But with the decrease, edifice officials and teachers organisation to address what crapper be finished to attain trusty 2011 was a pip in the string of rise scores.

"I don't conceive our power is mitigated with the fact we dropped," Wolter said. "It'll be a saucer of disceptation with us."

Each person area, he said, crapper wage limited questions on tests kindred to those students will wager on the ACT. Teachers this year also will ingest datum excerpts from preceding ACT examples which are acquirable to every schools.

"Like anything, if you training it, you're meliorate at it," he said. "That strength stingy that for 10 transactions on Friday, we're going to do higher visit intellection skills, which includes ACT-type questions."

Wolter credits the teachers for the eld of success.

"The teachers in the broad edifice verify enthusiastic individualized feel in their students' achievements," he said. "They hit a take of excellence they expect, and my hat's soured to them."