Sep 15, 2017 5:15pm CT

Evanston Township High School reported a composite ACT score of 23.4 in 2017 for students, its third highest in the past 44 years. Pete Bavis, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, provided an update on 2017 ACT scores at the ETHS District 202 Board of Education meeting held on September 11, 2017.

Nationally, the average composite ACT score for the graduating class of 2017 was 21.0, up from 20.8 in the class of 2016. Each of the four sections of the ACT (English, reading, math, and science) is scored on a scale of 0-36. Notably, 60 percent of the 2017 graduating class, sat for the ACT test this year, down from last year when 64 percent of the 2016 graduating class took the exam. Numbers reflects the largest drop in ACT test-taking since 1990.

In 44 years the ACT composite score at ETHS has been a 23 or higher only 11 times. For the past 10 consecutive years, ETHS has had the highest composite ACT scores ever at at the school with the exception of 1998. At the state level, students in each graduating class in Illinois been required to take the ACT only since 2002. And while state and national data show a dip in average ACT scores - in part because the number of students taking the college-readiness exam rose significantly this year - ETHS average scores have climbed over time. Composite scores at ETHS have been at all-time highs at the same time that the percentage of students qualifying free and reduced lunch has shown significant growth.

“I am so proud of our teachers, students and school leaders,” noted ETHS District 202 Superintendent Eric Witherspoon. “I am proud of the equity work we are doing that has raised expectations for all students who now take our most challenging courses.”

Because the State of Illinois now requires that all juniors take the SAT exam, instead of the ACT, ETHS will begin reporting SAT score data. For more information about 2017 ACT Scores at ETHS, see the ACT Scores Presentation from September 11, 2017.