Academic Test Scores
When we say Owensboro Catholic Schools are academically excellent, we have many measures on which to stake this claim. First of all, our elementary schools, the middle school and the high school are certified by standards of academic excellence. All schools are accredited by the State of Kentucky, Department of Education. In addition, the Owensboro Catholic Schools are evaluated by the National Catholic Educational Association, the Kentucky Non-Public School Commission and the National Committee for Private Education, which requires professional development for teachers. A second way to judge the academic excellence of a school has traditionally been student performance on national testing. On the average, Catholic school students perform above the national norm for the particular tests chosen. Owensboro Catholic Schools go well beyond that measure as evidenced in the accompanying charts.
The Owensboro Catholic Schools can boast the highest composite scores in the region and exceed national and state averages on the ACT, PLAN and EXPLORE tests!
ACT
This year’s composite score was the highest composite score in the history of OCHS. Over the past 5 years, 92% of the students at OCHS have taken the ACT, scoring an average 21.6 composite score and consistently surpassing state and national averages in all test areas. And most recently, 96% of the class of 2006 took the ACT test. ACT tests are used at the high school level both as a measure of student performance and as a standard for acceptance into college.
PLAN: An ACT Program for Educational and Career Planning
The PLAN Test is taken each year to assist Grade 10 students at OCHS in evaluating educational and career options.
EXPLORE: An ACT Program for Educational Planning
Each year the Grade 8 students at OCMS take the Explore Test to evaluate their
academic standings as well as learn of career opportunities for the future.
CAT/6 Terra Nova Achievement Test
The Owensboro Catholic Schools use the CAT6 Terra Nova Achievement Test 2nd Edition from CTB/McGraw Hill Company to measure the skills of our students while allowing us to compare our performance to the performance of students throughout the country. This test was normed in 2000 and the scores are reported in percentiles. A percentile shows the performance of students who fell below a particular score on the test. For example, a percentile of 60 would show that the average student in our school scored equal to or better than 60 percent of all students who took the test. These scores are for the test given in the spring of 2006.
