Officials from the state reported that Mississippi junior high school students performed better on the ACT (American College Test), than they did the previous school year. The average composite score of all 11th graders increased from 17.6 in 2014-15 to 18.3 percent during 2015-2016. According to the Mississippi Department of Education, most student subgroups (i.e., groups that are broken down by income and race) also saw improvement. Carey Wright, the state superintendent of education said in a press release that “These scores increases are encouraging” and could be improved if high school students continue to take higher-level coursework. “It’s important that students take the right courses in the correct sequence to be prepared for college and work,” Carey Wright, state superintendent of education said in a press release. This year, the percentage of students who met the benchmark scores in each of the four subject areas increased from 9 per cent to 11 per cent. Mississippi Department of Education announced that it will continue to offer senior-year literacy and math readiness courses by the Southern Regional Education Board for students who have a benchmark score between 15 and 18. These courses will close the gap between students who meet or close to the ACT benchmark scores. The ACT is a curriculum-based assessment that measures the skills of high school teachers and what college instructors expect.