Illinois ACT scores post biggest drop in a decade

New ACT scores reveal that Illinois schools are still struggling to prepare their students for life after graduation. Overall, only 25 percent of the state’s students were considered college-ready in all four subjects – the exact same percentage as last year and 1 percentage point below the national average. This is still too low, especially for a...

New ACT scores reveal that Illinois schools are still struggling to prepare their students for life after graduation.

Overall, only 25 percent of the state’s students were considered college-ready in all four subjects – the exact same percentage as last year and 1 percentage point below the national average. This is still too low, especially for a state that spends an average of $11,664 per pupil.

Here are some other important statistics:

• The state experienced the largest drop in its average ACT scores in more than a decade last year – from 20.9 to 20.6.  Part of the drop was due to the fact that the ACT decided to include the test scores of students who require extra completion time.

• Compared to previous years, the percentage of students that met college-readiness standards in all subjects decreased substantially – the worst being reading, which saw a decrease of 8 percentage points.

Though district data have not been released yet, it is clear that some districts in the state have college-ready rates well below the national average. It is these schools that deserve closer scrutiny and should be the target of education reforms, including teacher merit pay, parent trigger laws and school choice legislation.