Schools failing our children: Students' ACT test scores drop to lowest level in 30 years

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Students' ACT test scores drop to lowest level in 30 years

'The Fifth Column' podcast host Kmele Foster questions whether public schools are preparing students adequately for college.

Striking new low test scores on ACT college admissions test further illustrate the devastating impact of the COVID shutdowns on education and raise questions about high school students' readiness for higher education.

Scores on the ACT college admissions test by this year's high school graduates hit their lowest point in more than 30 years. The class of 2022's average ACT composite score was 19.8 out of 36, marking the first time since 1991 that the average score was below 20. An increasing number of high school students failed to meet any of the subject-area benchmarks set by the ACT — showing a decline in preparedness for college-level coursework.

Podcast host Kmele Foster told "Fox & Friends" Thursday argued that the drop in test scores is due the fallout from schools pushing a social justice agenda and not focusing on the basics.

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The ACLU argued that a transgender student at the Martinsville school in Indiana should be able to use a bathroom which corresponds with his gender identity. (iStock)

"There's been a precipitous decline in these scores on average for a number of decades now. And when we talk about the ACT, we're talking about math, science, English and reading readiness for college. And we're talking about students in maybe the top 35% of all graduating seniors," Foster, the host of "The Fifth Column" said.

"These are kids who have their futures ahead of them, who think that they ought to be able to go to college. And we're finding out that something like 40% of them is not prepared to tackle these subjects at a college level."

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The test scores, made public in a report Wednesday, show 42% of ACT-tested graduates in the class of 2022 met none of the subject benchmarks in English, reading, science and math, which are indicators of how well students are expected to perform in corresponding college courses.

In comparison, 38% of test takers in 2021 failed to meet any of the benchmarks.

Classroom with empty wooden desks. (iStock) (iStock)

"Academic preparedness is where we are seeing the decline," said Rose Babington, senior director for state partnerships for the ACT. "Every time we see ACT test scores, we are talking about skills and standards, and the prediction of students to be successful and to know the really important information to succeed and persist through their first year of college courses."

Parents protesting in Loudoun County, Virginia, on June 22, 2021.  (Reuters)

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Kmele Foster told "Fox & Friends" said that there is also an "increasing number of parents who are very concerned about" the decline in ACT. test scores.

"I think the increasing popularity of things like school choice, for example, is a pretty good indication of the fact that there's growing concern about this," he said.

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"But I also think it's worth us taking into consideration what's been happening in public schools over the last couple of years," Foster added. "I mean, we've been having these pitched ideological battles about what should be taught in the school."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.