Report Card Looks Good for Illinois High School Grads

Dave Dahl -- Illinos Radio Network

The report card is a good one for Illinois' high school class of 2014.

Illinois State Board of Education spokeswoman Mary Fergus says the composite ACT score was 20.7, second among the twelve states which tested all students.  Only Utah, at 20.8, was better among those twelve.

Illinois, though, is dropping the requirement.

“You are likely testing students who may not have studied for the ACT; they may not have been aware they were taking the ACT that day” when they came to school, says Fergus of Illinois' wide net.  “You're testing a greater pool of students.”

148 students in Illinois earned a perfect score, 36.