Just below&uot; really isn’t good enough. No matter how you compare the numbers, public school students in both Concordia Parish and Adams County are still below state and national averages on ACT composite test scores.

So what, you ask?

So … that means students in public high schools on both sides of the Mississippi River are less prepared for success in college than their peers through Mississippi, Louisiana and the nation.

And that’s not good enough.

The ACT — which is a standard test designed to evaluate competency on English, math, reading and science reasoning, is an entrance tool used by most colleges. And ACT scores are often a key factor in determining scholarship awards, admittance to prime colleges and programs and, quite frankly, an individual student’s potential to learn and succeed.

And according to statistics released for this year’s tests, we’re not doing well enough.

The tests aren’t administered only to college prep students; all juniors and seniors are able to take the tests, and the results can provide another tangible measure of a district’s achievements … or lack of effectiveness.

For instance, the national average for all students is a score of 19.5. In Adams County, the average is 17.6, and in Concordia Parish the average is 18.2. Even statewide averages in both states are better than our local averages: 18.6 in Mississippi and 19.6 in Louisiana.

In a comparison of only college prep students, the national average is 22 (on a scale of 1 to 36). In Adams County, the average is 18.6, and in Mississippi that same average is 19.8

The Natchez-Adams superintendent said Thursday he was &uot;pleased&uot; with the test scores.

We’re not.

Being below average — no matter how close to that average — just isn’t good enough for our students.