ACT

Waukegan, beleaguered, needs school choice for a comeback

08/01/2014
Chicago’s North Shore is synonymous with million-dollar homes and top-notch schools. For decades, families have left Chicago to raise their families and educate their children in the North Shore suburbs. But tucked away within those wealthy villages is a city with schools on the other end of the spectrum. Waukegan, with a population of more...

Chicago Tribune calls for honesty in college-readiness standards

11/08/2013
The Chicago Tribune is calling on the state to be honest about how well its students are performing academically: “Illinois has a track record of massaging its school performance numbers to mask reality and make everybody feel good. Last year, 849 schools could boast that 90 percent or more of their students passed statewide reading...

TAGS: college readiness, ISBE: Illinois State Board of Education, No Child Left Behind

Illinois ACT scores post biggest drop in a decade

08/22/2013
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...