ACT Perfect Scores Have Been Blowing Up

In the two decades between 1998 and 2018, the number of perfect scores on the ACT increased 34x from .01% to .34%.

Have students preparing to enter college suddenly become 34 times smarter? Unlikely

This explosion in perfect test scores is chronicled in an article on the PrepMaven site:

These are still very low numbers – in 2021, only 4,055 students taking the ACT earned a perfect score. However, the percentage of students getting a 36 on the ACT has gone from less than 0.01% to 0.34% in 2020! (There’s a small dip for 2021, which we can likely attribute to the Covid-19 pandemic.)

The makers of the ACT have assured us that this isn’t because the test is getting easier!

Rather, our hypothesis is that the rise in students getting perfect scores is because more high-achieving SAT “superstars” are now also taking the ACT, whereas before they would have only taken the SAT.."

Plausible? SAT superstars migrating to the ACT?

Perhaps.

In another treatment of the subject, Hannah K. Sparling and Dan Horn of the Cincinnati Enquirer put it this way:

"If the test is essentially the same, why are so many more students acing it?

The most likely answer is a booming test-preparation industry that’s built on the hopes and fears of students and parents who are willing to work – and pay – to get an edge.

They see the investment of a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars in a test prep program as worthwhile if it helps land their child at an Ivy League school or secures a big financial aid package."

Plausible? Anxious parents, hyper-competitive students, and increasing billions spent on test prep?

Definitely could be.

On the same subject, the Applerouth Team said the following:

"Perfection can be a tricky thing. Too much of it diminishes value. Think of little league where everyone got a trophy. Or that Earth Science class where the teacher promised an A+ if her students simply did the work. Not everyone deserves the label of “perfect,” and the same is true for the ACT. A composite of 36 should be reserved for a select few, and too much perfection should raise red flags over the difficulty of the test..."

It's worth noting that, despite a recent dip in perfect scores correlating with the Covid years, numbers of perfect ACT scores (at last count) are still 30 times larger than they were a generation ago.

I concur completely with Applerouth. When grades and test scores are no longer seen as trustworthy, they become worthless as means of assessing merit and rewarding talent and hard work. A 30x increase in perfect test scores is unsustainable and unacceptable.

Grade inflation is real problem, and has been for decades. Although merit certainly isn't everything, life is inherently competitive, whether we like it or not – and refusing to hold back failing students is neither helpful nor compassionate.

I hope we come to our senses sooner rather than later. Denial of reality is never a good long-term solution.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

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