Student outcomes are a crucial component of any educational policy discussion. Tracking student progress, primarily through standardized testing, has often been used to predict student educational outcomes. Nebraska has used a standardized system of state-wide testing of students for many years. Most recently, the Nebraska Department of Education implemented the Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS).

NSCAS assesses student performance in English language arts (reading comprehension and writing), mathematics, and science in grades 3, 5, 8, and high school. To assess students during their junior year in high school, NSCAS utilizes the American College Testing (ACT) exam. Each state has its own specific state-wide assessment tests; students in all 50 states take the ACT each year. So, how do Nebraska students' ACT scores compare to those of students in other states?

Most people are unaware that Nebraska is one of the 13 states that requires all high school juniors to take the ACT as a statewide assessment test. Why is this significant? As a parent, as a school board member, and now as a state senator, I have often heard that Nebraska’s ACT scores are frequently below the national average. This is true. Nebraska’s average ACT score at the end of the 2024-2025 school year was 19.2, and the national average for the same time period was 19.4.

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