(The Center Square) – South Dakota’s high school ACT scores outpaced the nation once again, with the state’s average of 21.0 surpassing the national average of 19.4.
South Dakota Secretary of Education Joe Graves said in a news release: “These numbers reflect what we know to be true – that South Dakota students who take the ACT are well-prepared to move on following their K-12 careers.”
The South Dakota Department of Education did not respond to The Center Square’s media inquiry by publishing time.
The ACT is “a standardized test used for college admissions in the United States,” that includes “four academic skill areas: English, mathematics, reading, and science,” as stated in the SD Department of Education release.
Graves said in the news release that “providing all public-school juniors the opportunity to demonstrate their readiness this spring is an exciting and important step.”
“Having an ACT score in hand can open doors to opportunities students may never have considered before,” Graves said. “I look forward to seeing students who would not typically take the ACT realize what their future may hold.”
Career-readiness is an important topic . with a poll earlier this year showing that colleges are not preparing students for the workforce, The Center Square reported.
This year, 60% of South Dakota’s 2025 high school graduates took the ACT, “continuing the state’s upward trend on percent of students tested,” the release said.
The ACT is optional for students, but will soon be incorporated into public schools “as part of the school day,” according to the release.
“Beginning in the spring of 2026, all South Dakota juniors at public schools will take the test, as it will replace the previously required state assessment at the high school level,” the release said.
The release did not elaborate as to why South Dakota’s ACT scores “outpace” the rest of the nation. However, there are a number of factors that could contribute to the numbers.
Most notably, South Dakota’s homeschooling percent is about double the national average, with 6.6% of kids in South Dakota being homeschooled in the 2022-23 school year, according to South Dakota student enrollment data, compared to National Center for Education Statistics data showing that 3.4% of students nationwide being homeschooled during the same years.
As far as state curriculum directives go, in 2022 then South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem restricted the teaching of Critical Race Theory in K-12s, according to a SD Department of Education press release.
Furthermore, in 2023 South Dakota implemented a phonics training initiative for K-12 teachers regarding reading and writing instruction, according to the South Dakota Department of Education
In addition, South Dakota does not require sex ed in its schools, it only requires “character education,” including teachings on sexual abstinence, according to Sexual Risk Avoidance group Ascend.
Private school attendence would appear not to make a difference in ACT scores, for at 10.9% in the 2022-23 school year, private school enrollment is similar to usual national average that Pew Research shows being at about 10%.
South Dakota’s trend of surpassing the national average ACT score by a point or more has been going on since at least 2021, as evidenced by its Department of Education’s press release.
In 2021, the national average ACT score was 20.3, versus the South Dakota average of 21.6. In 2022, the national average was 19.8, while South Dakota’s was 21.5. In 2023, the national average was 19.5 and South Dakota’s average was 21.1. In 2024, the national ACT average was 19.4 and South Dakota’s was 21.1.
