The 2013 ACT results were released today and North Carolina did not fare well. Of the 11 states that tested more than 95 percent of its (mostly) eleventh-grade students, North Carolina ranked 11th (from highest score to lowest) in all subjects except math. Our math rank was 7th, which is consistent with the state’s history of performing reasonably well on math assessments such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
One important thing to remember: Most of these students represented in these scores have been in their state’s public school systems for a decade or more.
| State | Percent Tested | Composite Average | Rank | English Average | Rank | Math Average | Rank | Reading Average | Rank | Science Average | Rank |
| Utah | 100 | 20.7 | 1 | 19.9 | 2 | 20.2 | 4 | 21.3 | 1 | 20.8 | 1 |
| Illinois | 100 | 20.6 | 2 | 20.2 | 1 | 20.7 | 2 | 20.4 | 4 | 20.5 | 4 |
| North Dakota | 98 | 20.5 | 3 | 19.5 | 4 | 20.8 | 1 | 20.5 | T-2 | 20.7 | 2 |
| Colorado | 100 | 20.4 | 4 | 19.9 | 3 | 20.4 | 3 | 20.5 | T-2 | 20.5 | 3 |
| Michigan | 100 | 19.9 | 5 | 19.1 | 8 | 19.9 | 5 | 20.0 | 6 | 20.2 | 5 |
| Wyoming | 100 | 19.8 | 6 | 18.6 | 10 | 19.7 | 6 | 20.2 | 5 | 20.0 | 6 |
| Kentucky | 100 | 19.6 | 7 | 19.2 | 7 | 19.2 | 9 | 19.9 | 7 | 19.7 | 7 |
| Tennessee | 100 | 19.5 | T-8 | 19.3 | 6 | 19.1 | 10 | 19.8 | 8 | 19.4 | 8 |
| Louisiana | 100 | 19.5 | T-8 | 19.4 | 5 | 19.2 | 8 | 19.7 | 9 | 19.2 | 9 |
| Mississippi | 95 | 18.9 | 10 | 18.8 | 9 | 18.3 | 11 | 19.1 | 10 | 18.8 | 10 |
| North Carolina | 100 | 18.7 | 11 | 17.1 | 11 | 19.6 | 7 | 18.8 | 11 | 18.7 | 11 |
| National | 54 | 20.9 | N/A | 20.2 | N/A | 20.9 | N/A | 21.1 | N/A | 20.7 | N/A |
