Kansas has a definite case of test anxiety these days.

Whether the Kansas high school students who are taking the ACT standardized tests are nervous is unknown, but higher education leaders certainly are nervous about the results they are posting.

The Kansas Board of Regents this past week received its annual report on a host of education statistics, and none of them produced more alarm than a steep and steady decline in ACT test results by Kansas high school seniors.

Regent Cynthia Lane, the former superintendent of Kansas City Kansas Public Schools, said the results created an “urgent need” for the Board of Regents — which oversees the state’s university system — to meet with a special graduation task force of the State Board of Education, which oversees the state’s K-12 education system.

Regents Chair Cheryl Harrison-Lee called the findings “disturbing.”

“This needs a lot more attention,” she said. “This is where our attention really needs to be.”

The annual report presented to the Regents showed that the number of Kansas high school seniors who met the ACT benchmark score fell by at least nine percentage points in every category that the ACT tests for in the state. English is now the only category the ACT tests for where a majority of graduating seniors meet the requirement, and that is only by a slim majority. Specific findings included:

• 53% of graduating seniors met the ACT benchmark score for English in 2021. That’s down from 72% in 2013.

• 42% of graduating seniors met the ACT benchmark score for reading in 2021. That’s down from 51% in 2013.

• 32% of graduating seniors met the ACT benchmark score for math in 2021. That’s down from 51% in 2013.

• 32% of graduating seniors met the ACT benchmark score for science in 2021. That’s down from 42% in 2013.

• 21% of graduating seniors met the ACT benchmark score in all four subject areas in 2021. That’s down from 30% in 2013.

There is one caveat to the falling numbers, but it didn’t do much to ease the minds of the Regents. A state law began in 2019 that makes it free for high school students to take the ACT. In other states where such laws have been enacted, the percentage of students meeting benchmarks has fallen as more students take the test. The Kansas data shows the downward trend of scores accelerated after 2019, but it also shows the scores were falling well ahead of the state law change.

Higher education leaders care about the benchmark numbers because they have proven to be good predictors of success in college. Generally, students who meet the benchmark for a potential subject have a 50% chance of getting a ‘B’ grade or better in a corresponding college class and have a 75% chance of getting a ‘C’ grade or better in college.

It is those types of impacts that have the Regents concerned.

“Even more disturbing than the decline and the magnitude of the decline is what it means in terms of college readiness and how long it will take them to get a degree and the debt they are likely to incur while they are getting a degree,” Harrison-Lee said.

As the Regents vowed to look at the issue in more detail, at least one Regent also said he wanted to take time to examine whether the tests themselves were part of the issue.

“Are we giving the right test?” Regent Mark Hutton asked. “Is this the right standard to evaluate students coming out of high school? I understand the ACT is the recognized one, but I hear of people abandoning the ACT as a benchmark.”

Many universities, including the University of Kansas, have decreased their reliance on the ACT for admittance. But Harrison-Lee said that fact shouldn’t lessen the concern of what the numbers show — a decline in understanding of basic subjects.

“Even if we don’t use the ACT, if you aren’t ready, it is still going to be a great concern to us,” Harrison-Lee said.

Harrison-Lee said the numbers should spark a conversation about potential changes to high school curriculums. Lane agreed, saying that is why she thinks it is critical that the Regents meet with a special graduation task force that has been established by the State Board of Education. She said that task force is expected to deliver a report early this summer.

Blake Flanders, president and CEO of the Regents, said his office is working to set up a future joint meeting. He said that meeting likely would include representatives from the state’s community college system, because he knows they have thoughts on how the state’s high school curriculum could be changed to improve college readiness.

The ACT results were just one set of statistics Regents received. Many of the other statistics sparked concern, stemming from Kansas’ population trends and other demographic challenges that have made it difficult for the state’s higher education system to grow. Here’s a look at other findings from the annual report:

• The number of students enrolled in the state’s public higher education system — the Regents universities, community colleges and technical education schools — declined by 13.3% over the last 10 years. Despite 2021 being billed as a bounce-back year in some education circles due to lessening pandemic restrictions, headcount numbers fell by 5.6% compared to 2020. The last time the state’s higher education system posted a gain in student numbers was 2018.

• Not all sectors of the state’s system are performing equally. The seven technical colleges overseen by the Regents have posted strong enrollment growth over the last 10 years. Technical college enrollment is up 25.8% for the decade. However, declines in community college and university enrollment have more than offset those gains. Enrollment in the Regents university system — which includes KU’s medical school and Kansas State’s veterinary school — has declined by 7.6% for the decade. Community college enrollment has dropped the most, falling 26.8% for the decade. However, community college enrollment did increase by 1.2% in 2021 compared to a 2.4% decline for the four-year universities.

• A state program to encourage high school students to consider technical colleges, even while they are still in high school, has provided a major boost to technical schools. The report found 35% of the technical schools’ enrollment is made up of students still in high school. In 2013 that number was 9%.

• Racial and ethnic disparities were evident in multiple parts of the report. Black, Hispanic, Native American and bi-racial students finished below the average in ACT benchmark data in all four subject areas of English, math, reading and science. Asian and white students finished above the average in every ACT benchmark category.

The same groups also attended college at much lower rates than white or Asian students. As an example, Hispanic students had a college-going rate of 34% and Black students had a rate of 33%. Asians had a college-going rate of 52% and whites nearly 49%.

• An equally stark discrepancy based on incomes also was evident. ACT benchmark performance declined in every category as income levels declined. Families with incomes of $150,000 or more met ACT benchmark levels in all four testing areas at a 44% rate. Families with incomes of $24,000 or less did so at a rate of 8%.

• Despite talk about demographic changes producing lower birth rates, Kansas did see an increase in high school graduates over the last 10 years, up by 1,740 students for the decade. However, the growth in high school graduates is not occurring equally across the population. The number of white high school graduates declined by 1,937 students. The number of Hispanic high school graduates increased by 2,635 students, while bi-racial and Asian populations produced more modest gains.

In other words, the part of the population that is growing the most — Hispanic graduates — also is one of the sectors that is not performing well on college-readiness tests and not going to college in high numbers.

Flanders, the Regents president and CEO, said that’s an extremely important finding for the state’s leaders to understand.

“We have always had these discrepancies, and now those are the groups that are growing in population,” Flanders said. “If we don’t figure out how to serve this new group of students, then we can expect Kansas enrollments to continue to decline in post-secondary education.”