Nine Blue Valley high school students notched perfect scores on the ACT — one of the most common standardized tests used for college admission.

The students’ feat was recognized earlier this week by the Blue Valley school board.

Perfect ACT scores are rare

• The highest a student can score on the ACT is 36 — which combines English, math, reading and science sections.
• According to ACT scoring data from 2021, less than 0.3% of all ACT test takers nationwide earned a perfect score that year.
• This amounted to 4,055 students total.

The students were recognized by the district this week

• At Monday’s meeting, the Blue Valley Board of Education recognized each of the students who earned a perfect score.
• Superintendent Terry Merrigan commended the students for their achievement.
• “There are districts who would kill for (this many perfect scores) over a 10-year period,” she said. “The fact that we had that in one semester — shout out to them, I mean, that is a huge accomplishment.”

The students who earned a perfect ACT score this year are as follows:

• Reese Burgener — Blue Valley Southwest
• Caleb Deng — Blue Valley North
• Noor Haideri — Blue Valley High
• Edward Mu — Blue Valley North
• Megan Wang — Blue Valley Northwest
• Aiden Juhl — Blue Valley North
• Nickan Safi — Blue Valley High
• Quinten Schafer — Blue Valley North
• Avery Vogel — Blue Valley West

ACT participation has fallen in recent years

• The number of students taking the ACT has fallen 30% since 2018 — with a particularly pronounced drop in participation among Black students, NPR reported.
• That trend reflects, in part, disruptions in academics caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as growing unease with the use of standardized tests, like the ACT and SAT, to help determine college admissions.
• Thousands of colleges and universities in the U.S., including the University of Kansas and Kansas State University, no longer require students submit ACT or SAT scores when they apply.

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