Florida students' ACT scores among nation's worst

Florida had some of the worst ACT scores in the nation this year.

The big picture: Nationally, the class of 2023 had the worst ACT performance in more than three decades, according to newly released data from the nonprofit that administers the college admissions test, Axios' April Rubin reports.

Why it matters: The scores are the latest indication of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on education, with academic performance and test scores declining at all levels. The 2023 cohort was in its first year of high school when the pandemic began.

Zoom in: Florida's average composite ACT score, an average of the scores for the English, math, reading and science sections, was 18.9 out of 36, a big drop from 19.6 in 2014.

• Last year's average was 19.

Driving the news: More than four in 10 seniors don't meet any of the ACT's college readiness benchmarks, the testing organization said. These are the minimum scores for predicted success in college courses.

• Average scores have been declining for six consecutive years, ACT CEO Janet Godwin said in a statement.
• "The hard truth is that we are not doing enough to ensure that graduates are truly ready for postsecondary success in college and career," she said.

Zoom out: Test scores across all ages have seen record lows since the pandemic.

• Meanwhile, college enrollment has declined for three years in a row.
• More colleges and universities have eliminated requirements for standardized tests or made them optional as a response to dwindling enrollment.