Despite efforts, Dist. 300 ACT scores stagnate

Despite its increased focus on test preparation and college readiness, Community Unit District 300 received disappointing results from the ACT this month.

According to the newly released results, District 300's scores on the ACT, a standardized assessment for high school juniors, went up in some areas and down in others but stagnated overall.

The district's overall ACT score, out of a high of 36, was 20.4 this year - the same as last year and 0.3 below the state average, according to the district.

"With the emphasis we've been putting on this, especially in the past year, we expected better results than we received," said Carole Cooper, director of assessment and accountability.

The 2010 results follow 2009 numbers that were down 0.2 from the year before. The district's score is still above its 2007 mark of 20.1.

The district says it will intensify its ACT preparation efforts, especially through an initiative that takes the educational buzzwords "individualized instruction" to a new level.

The new effort, beginning in the fall, will analyze the performance of each student in grades 9 through 11, come up with a target test score for that student, and develop a plan of action to meet that goal, according to Cooper.

If the initiative shows results, the ultimate goal is to expand the program to students in grades 3 through 8 who take the ISAT.

"We're hoping that they own these (goals) as their own," Cooper said.

In the same vein, officials hope to learn from the ACT efforts at Jacobs High School, where students took a more active role in test preparation, participating in contests, a pep rally and a tutoring center.

Jacobs was the only District 300 high school to show improvement this year. The overall score at the Algonquin school went up 0.1.