Cyndi Loza

Washoe County students dipped in every area of the American College Testing except math compared with last year’s score, school officials said Wednesday.

“(But) the scores are only minimally lower, and they continue to be above state and national averages,” said Steve Mulvenon, school district spokesman.

The ACT is divided into four multiple-choice subject tests: English, mathematics, reading and science reasoning. Test scores range from 1 to 36.

The district’s composite average score dropped from 22.3 in 2007 to 22 this year. Math stayed the same at 22.2.

“(The scores) took a slight dip in every area except math, but we try not to look at scores year-to-year but look at them from over the long haul so we get trend data,” Mulvenon said.

He said the district was unable to get enough detailed analysis from the 2008 ACT to comment on the slight drop.

“Until we get the detailed data from the ACT, anything else will be speculation,” Mulvenon said.

Michelle Ong, 17, said she was upset with her ACT results.

Her scores in math and English were not high enough to place in college classes at the University of Nevada, Reno. She needed to take a course before attending the school in the fall.

“The questions that I saw were things that I’ve never really went through in high school and were kind of different from the classes I actually took,” said Ong, a Damonte Ranch High School graduate.

Mulvenon said students are getting the resources they need to perform well.

“I think the overall numbers indicate students are well prepared on the whole, but there will always be some exceptions of students that feel otherwise,” he said.