Mississippi's ACT scores remained the worst in the nation last year, despite an increasing number of students taking the courses that are supposed to prepare them for college.
The testing organization, based in Iowa City, Iowa, says that only 11 percent of Mississippi students were ready for college in English, math, reading and science, compared to 25 percent of students nationwide.
That's up from 9 percent of Mississippi students who scored college-ready marks in all four subjects in 2008, compared to 22 percent nationwide.
In contrast to that modest improvement, the state average on the test is 18.7 this year, down from 18.9 in 2008. The national average has stayed level at 21.1.
Mississippi is one of nine states that gives the ACT test to all its high school seniors.
