Oklahoma program may have contributed to record number of ACT test-takers, official says

State officials released Oklahoma high schools' 2012 ACT scores August 29. Data showed 29,342 graduating high school seniors took the college entrance exam in 2012 — about 80 percent of the state's seniors.

That figure is the largest in state history. It represents an increase of 1,119 students over 2011, when 76 percent of graduating seniors took the exam.

Tracking progress

During a Thursday meeting of the Oklahoma Regents for Higher Education, Cindy Brown, the system's director for student preparation, told regents she suspects the Oklahoma Educational Planning and Assessment System, or EPAS, may have contributed to the increase.

The system provides students and parents with reports that show how the student is doing in specific areas, based on how he or she performed on tests. The reports allow students and parents to identify areas where the student needs to improve, so he or she can focus on those topics.