Wisconsin may rank second in the nation on this test, but our test scores are not as good as they appear. Wisconsin tests only 70% of our students while other states test many more. Five states now require that all students take the ACT for graduation.

Wisconsin’s misrepresentation of its ACT test scores clearly hurts Milwaukee because Wisconsin can claim it is second in the nation while ignoring that just 45% of MPS graduates took the test last year.

Requiring students to take the ACT for graduation has clearly benefited the students in these other states and will benefit Milwaukee’s students as well.

More students are likely to go to college. This is not hard to figure out. Johnny is sitting in a high school classroom and never considered going to college. He wasn’t going to take the ACT on his own, but now he is required to take the test for graduation. He takes the test and gets a 21, perhaps higher, and now he has colleges trying to recruit him. Soon he finds himself in college, something he would never have done if the school system had not required the ACT.

This scene is being repeating in community after community in states that now require the ACT for graduation. The average ACT score for 100% of Chicago students in 2006 is higher than the 40% who took the test in 1999. In the first year Illinois required the ACT, college enrollment was up 23 percent. Included in this increase were 15% of the ACT tested students who said they did not intend to go to college when they took the exam as juniors.

Other states are showing that students are more likely to stay in college. This suggests that schools understand that test scores are not likely to rise simply by teaching to the test without adding rigor to the high school curriculum. All our students need a rigorous curriculum. Gone are the days when we could separate our students into college or vocational prep. Today’s technical fields require virtually the same skill levels as a college education. Requiring the ACT can make the difference.

A version of this article appeared in the Bay View Compass newspaper.