Wrap: Results show close to three-fourths of Missouri students do not meet college readiness benchmarks in all four subjects the A-C-T evaluates students on.

Parkway and Rockwood School Districts pay for all juniors to take the test which may have lowered their averages in the past few years. 

Parkway Communications Coordinator Cathy Kelly says they knew they would risk lowering those averages.

She says it was best for the kids, especially those who didn't think about taking the test.

Ten states require all students to take the exam...and all of these states have lower scores than the national average.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Taylor Beck.

Wrap: The latest A-C-T scores show nearly three-fourths of grads who took the exam did not hit college readiness benchmarks in all four A-C-T subjects.

A benchmark is the minimum A-C-T score a student needs which shows they have a 75-percent chance of receiving a C grade or higher in the corresponding college course.

24-percent of students didn't make the grade at all and met no benchmarks on any of the four exam portions.

Missouri students scored best on the English portion of the exam, where seventy-two percent of test-takers met the criteria.

Later this week the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will release a list of all school districts and their average scores.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Taylor Beck.

Wrap: self-enclosed headline