Local high schools had mixed results on their ACT tests, three with rising scores and two falling. And although Bowdon, at 20.4, and Carrollton, at 20.2, came close, none of the local schools quite reached the state average of 20.6 on the college readiness exam.

“I’m pleased, but we’re going to keep working on it,” said Donna Simpson, guidance counselor at Bowdon High School. “You can always do better.”

The ACT is a curriculum-based test designed to measure college preparedness and is scored on a scale from 0 to 36.

The ACT tests in English, math, reading and science and the average of all scores is rolled together in a composite. Bowdon, Villa Rica and Carrollton high schools all raised their composite scores. Bowdon and Villa Rica each had average composite scores of 19 last year and rose to 20.4 and 19.5 this year. Carrollton High School was at 19.6 last year and rose to 20.2.

They’re following a statewide trend. Georgia’s average score rose .3 from 20.3 last year. However, the state is still lagging behind the national average of 21.1. The state’s national ranking is on the rise, though. The state is now ranked 41st in the nation, up from 44th in 2007 and 47th in 2002.

“These increases are happening even as more and more Georgia students are taking the ACT,” state Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox said in a prepared statement. “There is still work to be done but we are making tremendous progress in a short period of time.”

The state average went up in every individual subject. Of the local schools, only Carrollton met the state average in English of 20.1. In math, Bowdon exceeded the state average of 20.6 with an average of 21.3. Carrollton at 20.1 was just below the state average, followed by Villa Rica at 19.4, Central at 19 and Temple at 18.3.

“We have a very strong math department at our school,” Simpson said. “We try to encourage our students to enroll in the hardest courses that they can handle.”

All the schools lagged behind in science. The state average in science was 20.3 but the local schools ranged from 18.1 at Temple to 19.8 at Bowdon.

Reading scores across the state averaged 20.9. Locally, Bowdon’s average was 20.8 in reading followed by Carrollton at 20.5 and Villa Rica at 19.9. Both Central and Temple’s average was 19.1.

A school needs at least 10 students tested to have an average for the school recorded. Out of all the county’s high schools Mt. Zion was the only one that did not have enough students take the ACT to have an average recorded. Carrollton High School had the most students tested with 111 students, followed by Central with 59, Bowdon with 46, Villa Rica with 44 and Temple with 35.

The SAT test is the most popular college entrance exam with students in this region, but the ACT has a rising number of students each year. In the state nearly 29,465 students took the ACT in 2007 and 33,238 took the test in 2008. Most colleges and universities in the state will accept both SAT and ACT test scores.

“Many of our students will take both tests to get their highest averages,” said Joy Holley, assistant principal of curriculum and guidance at Carrollton High School. “We do encourage students to look at it. They are different tests based on how they are set up, and what they measure. So, we usually look at the student’s performance on the PSAT and in the classroom here, and help them decide which test would be best for them.”

Holley is proud of the fact that so many Carrollton students take the SAT and ACT tests.

“We encourage all of the students that want to look at post-secondary (education) to take the tests,” she said. “So we always have a high average of students sitting for the tests, SAT and ACT.”

Neither Bowdon nor Carrollton does any special preparation for the ACT, focusing instead on preparations for the SAT, which most of their students prefer. But the preparations for one test do help with the other.

“We encourage them to use some of the test preparation materials online,” Simpson said, adding she tells the students, “Please don’t go into this test blind. You don’t want a bad score showing up on your transcript for colleges to see.”

Both the Georgia Department of Education and the GACollege411.org offer college test preparation courses on their Web sites, they said.

“We also do an awards program here,” Holley said. “We have plaques within the school. Students that achieve a certain level on those tests, their names are posted on (the plaque). So, that’s an honor.”