Vicksburg Warren School District students edged higher than last year and above the state average on the ACT in this year’s testing.

Statewide, Mississippi’s ACT scores rose for the second year in a row, the testing company said in information released today.

Overall, however, Mississippi was ranked next-to-last on the national level. Only students in Washington, D.C., which has the nation’s highest per-pupil spending, scored lower.

ACT stands for American College Test. It is optional for high school students in Mississippi, but is taken by most.

Release of the information precedes a Friday release of more comprehensive, mandatory Mississippi Curriculum Test data. Those tests are required and are administered to measure compliance with state and federal achievement standards.

For the 2006-2007 school year, the local average composite score for students taking the optional test was 19.3, up from 19.1.

A total of 24,669 Mississippi high school graduates took the test and earned an average ACT composite score of 18.9, up from 18.7 in 2005 and 18.8 in 2006.

The national average was 21.2. A score of 36 is the highest possible.