More Students Workforce Ready in the Class of 2023
The number and percentage of high school seniors graduating workforce-ready rose with the Class of 2023, according to the results of ACT’s WorkKeys Assessment, a test of skills given to public high school seniors. The results are another sign that student performance is recovering from post-pandemic lows, though the recovery is not complete. Printable PDF […]
Alabama ACT Scores Climb
ACT Scores for Alabama public high school students improved in 2023, bucking a downward trend nationally and providing another clue that Alabama schools began recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic more quickly than schools nationally. Students in the graduating class of 2023 were in ninth grade when the COVID-19 pandemic reached the U.S. Printable PDF Document […]
Shifts in Public School Enrollment Seen in the 2023-2024 Fall Attendance Data
Alabama’s public school enrollment is down slightly for the 2023-2024 school year, with a decline in the number of white students enrolled, partially offset by a growing enrollment of Hispanic students. Just over half of public school students, 51% are white, 32% Black, and 11% Hispanic. This year’s enrollment continues a long-term trend. In 2000, […]
How Alabama Taxes Compare, 2023
Despite the wild gyrations in the economy since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the spring of 2020, the latest comparative data from the U.S. Census Bureau finds Alabama in a familiar position: at or near the bottom in state and local government tax collections. Key Findings • Alabama is a low-tax state: In FY 2021, […]
Alabama State Tax Collections, 2023
Increases, Decreases, and Trends in the Revenue Supporting State Government The 2023 fiscal year, which ended on September 30, was a mixed year for Alabama revenue collections. After several years of strong growth, Alabama tax collections turned in a mixed performance in 2023, with the General Fund (GF), which supports non-education spending, up substantially. Education […]
Changes to the State Standardized Test and its Scoring
The Alabama State Board of Education voted on Thursday to change the test score students must earn to be considered reading on grade level by the end of third grade. The change was recommended by testing experts due to changes made in the content of the 2023 test and shifts in results. Using the score […]
Alabama Standardized Test Scores Rise in 2023
Alabama public school students improved their performance on statewide standardized tests in 2023, with the percentage of students testing proficient rising across most of the tested grades (3-8) and subjects (English Language Arts (ELA), math, and science). Printable PDF version available here. Figure 1. Trends in Proficiency by Subject Just over half of Alabama students, […]
New Reading Scores Released As Schools Head Toward Full Literacy Act Implementation
About one-quarter of Alabama third graders were not reading on grade level by the end of third grade, leaving them vulnerable to academic struggles as they progress in school, according to data from the reading subsection of the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program released Thursday. Printable PDF version available here. Among second graders, 11,622 or 22% […]
Grad Rate Dipped, but Career Readiness Climbed for Class 2022
As graduation approaches for the Class of 2023, there’s new data available allowing us to look back on last spring’s graduates. The Class of 2022 faced particular challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which struck when they were sophomores and persisted through their junior year. In both those years, the number of kids who dropped […]
Alabama’s College-Going Rate Begins Recovery; Still Below Pre-Pandemic Rates
Alabama’s 2021 public high school graduates entered higher education at a slightly higher rate than the Class of 2020, according to new data from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education. However, with only 55% of graduates entering higher education the year after graduation, the 2021 rate was still much lower than in the years before […]