Roughly 1.3 million graduating high school students in 2022 - 36% of the total - sat down for the ACT exam. The ACT (formerly the American College Testing Program) assesses college readiness in English, math, science, and reading. Many colleges base admittance on a student's ACT test results.

In latest years, an alarming trend has emerged, as ACT scores have steadily declined. According to ACT, Inc., the national average composite score decreased from 20.3 in 2021 to 19.8 in 2022 - the lowest average since 1991.

In a blog on the ACT website, CEO Janet Godwin noted that only 22% of the students who took the test met all four ACT benchmarks, or the levels at which the organization deems students stand a greater chance of success in higher education. Meanwhile, 42% did not achieve any of the benchmarks.

While ACT scores have declined nationwide in latest years, there is considerable variation in average ACT scores from state to state. In National, the average composite ACT score in 2022 was 19.8 out of a possible 36, the among states.

Of the four test components that go into the overall composite score, students in National scored best in the practicing section, with an average score of 20.4. Meanwhile, the test category with the lowest average score in the state was English, at 19.0 points out of 36.

All data in this story is from Scholaroo, a global scholarship database.

A coalition of Democratic and Republican lawmakers is renewing the effort to expand a Secret Service threat-assessment program to include a greater focus on preventing violence at schools.

The proposed Eagles Act would expand the U.S. Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Program.

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It is named in honor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Eagles. The Parkland high school was the site of the Feb. 14, 2018, shootings in which 17 people were killed and 17 injured.

[ RELATED: Parkland families, South Florida leaders warn permitless gun carry would jeopardize public safety ]

The legislation was introduced in the House on Tuesday, the fifth anniversary of the massacre.

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Unlike previous years’ attempts, this year’s proposed Eagles Act has a broader mandate: expanding the threat-assessment program’s mandate and resources to encompass schools, workplaces and houses of worship.

“Sadly, after Parkland, these targeted attacks have become more common. As we have learned, threat assessments and early intervention are proven and effective ways to prevent violent conduct, and Congress must ensure that all communities are equipped with the tools to identify and respond to any and all threats,” U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Miami-Dade/Collier County Republican, said in a written statement.

[ RELATED: Jared Moskowitz becomes a vice chair of congressional gun violence prevention task force ]

Diaz-Balart, the senior member of the Florida Congressional Delegation, is the chief sponsor of the Eagles Act in the House. It is cosponsored by U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat who in January began his first term representing a Broward/Palm Beach county district.

“Five years ago, our community was rocked to its core by school violence. We must do everything in our power to leverage our best resources to keep our kids safe,” Moskowitz, a graduate of the Parkland high school, said in a statement.

The Secret Service established the National Threat Assessment Center in 1998 to develop evidence-based indicators of various types of targeted violence, including school shootings.

The center developed a threat-assessment model used by law enforcement to identify potentially violent individuals, assess whether an individual poses an imminent threat and determine how to manage the threat. Among its findings are that most attackers exhibit indicators of pre-attack behavior.

Since 2002, the Secret Service has conducted training operations for more than 198,000 school administrators, teachers, counselors, mental health professionals, school resource officers and others involved in public safety.

[ RELATED: Florida might legalize fentanyl test strips to help reduce drug overdoses and deaths ]

Demand for the training has increased significantly in latest years, Diaz-Balart’s office said, from faith-based leaders, workplace managers, school personnel, mental health professionals and law enforcement.

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The legislation would expand research, information-sharing and training.

[ RELATED: Countering DeSantis, Broward Democrats launch effort to buy and distribute banned books ]

Parents of two of the students killed in the massacre endorsed the legislation. Tony Montalto, father of Gina Montalto and president of Stand with Parkland, said it would bring the country “one step closer to ensuring that no parent ever has to experience the heartbreak of losing a child to preventable, senseless violence.”

Max Schachter, father of Alex Schachter and founder of Safe Schools for Alex, called on Congress to get the legislation “passed ASAP.”

The proposal also has bipartisan support in the Senate. U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, both Florida Republicans, are among the sponsors.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com, on Twitter @browardpolitics and on Post.news/@browardpolitics.

© Provided by Times Now 'icc needs to step in here': aussie great slams 'pathetic' act after wet surface forced oz to cancel training

Australia failed to live up to the tag of being the world’s No. 1 Test side as they suffered an embarrassing defeat by an innings and 132 runs against India in the first Test of the four-match series in Nagpur. The series opener of the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy didn’t last even three full days and got over before tea on Day 3. After conceding a lead of 223 runs in the first innings, the Baggy Greens lost all 10 wickets in one session to get out for 91 runs. It was a horror start for the side that is aiming to win the first Test series in India since 2004. After failing to tackle Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin on the Nagpur track, the Aussies decided to spend some hours on the ground to prepare themselves well for the next three matches. However, their plans to have a practise session before leaving for Delhi, where the second Test will begin on February 17, were cancelled due to local curators, which enraged legendary wicketkeeper-batter Ian Healy, who called for an intervention by the ICC.

On Sunday (February 12), Cricket Australia announced that the team was forced to cancel their training session after finding that the pitch was watered on Saturday following the conclusion of the first Test.

Angry by the act of watering the pitch, which denied Australia a chance to train ahead of travelling to Delhi, Healy called it a "pathetic" move, especially when a request was made for the training.

"It’s really embarrassing the scuppering of our plans to get some practise sessions on that Nagpur wicket," Healy said on SEN on Monday. "That’s not good, that’s just not good for cricket. The ICC needs to step in here. For them to water the wicket unceremoniously when it was requested for practise is horrible, and that has to improve," he added.

© Provided by Times Now

Test cricket great Ian Healy has taken aim at officials in India over what some have described as an act of sabotage against Pat Cummins' Australia side. The visitors were hoping to get some much needed batting practice on the Nagpur pitch that caused them so many issues in the first Test defeat to India, which finished up inside three days.

The Aussie side sunk to a new low in Nagpur, with not one batter registering a half century during the innings and 132-run defeat. India's spinners Ravi Jedeja and Ravi Ashwin proved too much for the hapless visitors, who were rolled for 91 in the second innings - the lowest total Australia has ever recorded in a series in India.

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It's little wonder Australia coach Andrew McDonald wanted his players to return to the scene of their horror show on Sunday, after booking a training session at the VCA Stadium. On what would have ben day four of the Test had Australia not collapsed so spectacularly on the Saturday, the Aussies were hurry to try and iron out some of their obvious deficiencies with the bat, on the turning Nagpur wicket.

Australia had apparently requested to use Sunday as a training session and asked local officials to hold off watering the pitch until they had done so. It later emerged that either the message didn't get through to curators, or local officials were reluctant to help the tourists out as Australia's planned training session was forced to be scrapped when they realised the pitch had already been watered.

Former Test wicketkeeper Healy pulled no punches when discussing the situation on SEN Radio. The 58-year-old described it as a deliberate and "pathetic" act from the host nation and called on the International Cricket Council (ICC) to take action.

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“It’s really embarrassing the scuppering of our plans to get some practice sessions on that Nagpur wicket,” Healy said. "That’s not good, that’s just not good for cricket. The ICC needs to step in here. For them to water the wicket unceremoniously when it was requested for practice is horrible and that has to improve.”

The latest controversy around the Nagpur pitch came after Indian curators were accused of doctoring the wicket to target Australia's left-handed heavy batting lineup. Reports emerged before the first Test that curators were selectively watering the middle of the pitch, but leaving the end near the left-hander's leg stump dry. A number of officials in Indian uniforms - including head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma - watched as ground staff targeted specific areas of the pitch.

While the Aussie batters struggled on the wicket, India's players - particularly their skipper Rohit, who hit a majestic century in the first innings - made a mockery of concerns about the standard of the pitch. Things don't get any easier for the tourists for the second Test in Delhi, where the home side have not tasted defeat in a Test since 1987.

Australia coach Andrew McDonald is refusing to panic though and has urged his team to stick to their original game plan, despite the shocking start to their Border-Gavaskar series. Cummins' men have shown they can be resilient, best demonstrated when it took to the 15th and final day of last year's tour of Pakistan to clinch the series.

"If you feel as though your preparation was good and the way you want to go about it is good then you recommit to that," Aussie coach McDonald said. "If you shift and try to change too much that's when you get lost as a touring team. We've seen teams come to Australia and try to do the same."

McDonald has flagged some changes to the XI as quicks Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, as well as allrounder Cameron Green, push for selection. Queensland left-arm orthodox spinner Matthew Kuhnemann is a "live chance" to play as third tweaker, with Nathan Lyon and breakout first Test star Todd Murphy in Delhi.

Kuhnemann is replacing state teammate Mitchell Swepson, who is returning home to be with his partner ahead of the birth of their first child. Swepson is expected to return to India ahead of the third Test, scheduled to begin on March 1.

"We feel as though when we came here we had a clear vision of how to play, how we want to go about it and we need to reinvest into that," McDonald added. "We feel as though it can work and the players within the change room are very capable for the challenges ahead.

"We had a slight setback in the first Test match, we got behind in the game. Are we able to shift the pressure back into the Indian dressing room? That's the key."

If Green is fit to play he will likely replace Matt Renshaw at No.6, with the left-hander making scores of 0 and two in Nagpur. Green's inclusion would also supply the Aussies the option of playing a third spinner due to his ability to bowl seam-up. "We feel as though with the balance of the squad we wanted four spinners here - two going in, two going away," McDonald added.

"That was heavily discussed if we needed a spinner to go the other way so Matt comes in with Mitch going home to see (partner) Jess. He's (Kuhnemann) a live chance to play in the next Test match. If we play three spinners then we clearly want back-up here and available in the squad if that's the way we want to go."

The other big selection decision for Australia is likely to centre around Travis Head, with many fans left perplexed that one of Australia's most in-form batters over the last 12 months was dropped for the first Test. Reports from NewsCorp have emerged that Head is being considered at the top of the Aussie batting order at the expense of veteran David Warner, who made 1 and 10 in the first Test in Nagpur and averages just over 22 in his career in India.

with AAP

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