Illinois Class of 2016 Average ACT Score up Slightly as National Average Declines
College ready percentage holds steady at one in four students
SPRINGFIELD, IL — Results released today in ACT’s annual score report, “The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2016,” show Illinois’ graduating seniors achieved an average composite score of 20.8, an increase of 0.1 over last year’s score. The national average composite score on the ACT fell from 21.0 to 20.8.
“Our graduates continue to show progress,” said State Superintendent of Education Tony Smith, Ph.D. “The work of improving opportunities for all students and increasing the pace of progress is one we approach with urgency.”
Illinois’ graduating seniors held steady for the percentage of students who meet each of the four ACT College Readiness Benchmark Scores in English, math, reading, and science, while comparable national figures declined:
|
Subject |
Illinois 2016 |
National 2016 |
|
English |
64 |
61 |
|
Mathematics |
41 |
41 |
|
Reading |
42 |
44 |
|
Science |
36 |
36 |
|
Meeting All Four |
26 |
26 |
A benchmark score is the minimum score needed on an ACT subject-area test to indicate a 50 percent chance of earning a B or higher or about a 75 percent chance of obtaining a C or higher in a corresponding credit-bearing college course. These courses include English composition, algebra, social science, and biology.
Students taking four or more years of English and three or more years each of math, social studies, and natural science continued to outpace students who took a less-rigorous course of study. Students with “core or more” tend to score three to four points higher on each of the subtests and the ACT Composite:
|
Subject |
Core or More 2016 |
Less than Core 2016 |
|
English |
22.8 |
18.5 |
|
Mathematics |
22.4 |
18.9 |
|
Reading |
22.9 |
19.2 |
|
Science |
22.5 |
19.0 |
|
Composite |
22.8 |
19.0 |
In Illinois, every public school 11th-grader was required to take the ACT as part of the Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE) from 2001 to 2014. In 2015, the test was optional for public school students and provided by the Illinois State Board of Education. Therefore, the majority of students graduating in 2016 had taken the ACT as juniors.
The ACT is scored on a scale of 1 to 36, with 36 being the highest possible score. The results shown here represent the scores achieved by all Illinois 2016 graduates in both public and private schools.
