Georgia high school seniors were performing better and better on the ACT until this year when their scores flat-lined. The state’s scores show Georgians are still less prepared for college than the nation as a whole.

But education officials say a closer look at the numbers tells a more promising picture.

The highest possible score on the ACT is 36. Georgia’s high school graduates scored an average of 20. 6…the same score as the year before, which broke a streak of steady gains since 2005.

Georgia Department of Education spokesman Dana Tofig says more students took the ACT last year, so they’re pleased the scores didn’t slip.

And he says if you break the data down by race… it doesn’t look so bad.

"When you look at our three largest racial subgroups--Caucasian, African American and Hispanic--our students in Georgia outscored their peers across the nation. Our whites did better than whites, our black students did better than blacks across the nation, Hispanics did better than Hispanics across nation in all areas."

Tofig says more minorities are taking the test here than other states. On average they score below their white peers.

Georgia did move a notch up in national rankings… to number 40.

Tags: Georgia, students, test, Department of Education, high school, Dana Tofig, ACT, flatline, stagnate