Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools (CPS) announced that students achieved a record high average score of 18.4 on the 2015-2016 ACT exam, which represents the highest composite score on record for the District. With the help of dedicated parents, teachers and school staff, ACT scores have grown steadily in recent years, increasing by 1.2 points since 2011 to this year’s record high. The District’s composite average score of 18.4 is a .2 point increase from the previous school year and reflects subject level improvements in reading, math and science. In the past year, students increased the average scale score in math by .4 points, science by .4 points and reading by .2 points. The momentous growth in the District’s ACT scores since 2011 is unparalleled in contrast with the preceding 5-year period, which showed an increase of just .2 points between 2005 and 2010.

Notably, CPS students have demonstrated consistent growth in ACT math scores for the past six years. This past year, students averaged a math score of 18.7, the highest score on record, which represents a 1 point increase since 2010. Overall, this growth demonstrates improvements in college-readiness and progress toward better college accessibility for Chicago’s students. Not only are CPS students achieving higher ACT scores on average, but the percentage of students meeting and exceeding the national average ACT score of 21 is also on the rise. This past year, 30.5 percent of CPS high school juniors scored a 21 above on the ACT compared to 25.5 percent in 2013. The continued growth in ACT scores follows recently announced increases in the District’s graduation rate (73.5 percent), freshman on-track rate (87.4 percent), and attendance rate (93.4 percent), college scholarship offers ($1.16 billion) and record high NWEA assessment scores that show CPS students on average scoring higher than their national peers.