Lake Forest High School's Class of 2010 Sets ACT Record!August, 2010
Lake Forest High School’s Class of 2010 set a record for the highest ACT scores in the school’s history with a composite score of 26.3. Additionally, each and every section or subset of the college entrance examination was also the highest score in Lake Forest High School’s history. This year’s results surpassed the previous record high of 25.6 set in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years. The state average was 20.7 and the national average was 21.0. The ACT scoring scale is 1 to 36.
Lake Forest High School also heralds 3 students with a perfect score of 36. Only 90 students in the state of Illinois achieved this honor and one tenth of 1 percent get a perfect score nation-wide. Lake Forest High School’s recent ACT score history.
“Our community and school can certainly be proud of these record-breaking scores. Our talented students, dedicated staff and rigorous curriculum are exemplified in these results," states District 115 Superintendent Dr. Harry Griffith. “Our students leave Lake Forest High School well prepared for college and careers.”
This comes at a time when Illinois schools posted slightly lower scores and, on a national level, according to the Wall Street Journal, “data for 2010 high school graduates who took the ACT show performance stagnating.
The ACT assesses high school students’ general educational development and their ability to complete college-level work. The latest ACT results indicate that Lake Forest’s graduates are well prepared for college in all four skill areas, English, mathematics, reading and science reasoning. Dr. Griffith noted, “I would also like to underscore that though we are very proud of these scores it is just one part of our mission. We are here for the whole child – that is the magic of Lake Forest High School."
The Class of 2010 received all-time high scores on the mathematics, English, reading and science sections of the exam. The mathematics score was 26.5; the English score of 26.6, while the reading score of 26.4, and the science score of 25.3 all surpassed previous district records.
The percentage of LFHS graduates that could be expected to succeed in a first-year college course based on ACT scores far exceeded the percentage of students statewide.
• College English Composition – 94 percent of Lake Forest graduates, compared to 64 percent of all graduating Illinois high school seniors. The ACT benchmark score to determine college readiness in English is 18 on the English portion of the exam
• College Algebra -- 82 percent of Lake Forest graduates; 40 percent statewide. The ACT benchmark score to determine college readiness in algebra is 22 on the mathematics portion of the exam.
• College Social Science – 81 percent of Lake Forest graduates; 48 percent statewide. The ACT benchmark score to determine college readiness in social science is 21 on the reading portion of the exam.
• College Biology – 63 percent of Lake Forest graduates; 27 percent statewide. The ACT benchmark score to determine college readiness in biology is 24 on the science portion of the exam. Note: ACT has a higher benchmark for Science than the other subject areas, which make it more difficult for students across the nation to achieve this, ACT standard.
The number of graduating seniors who took the ACT was 446.
Other outstanding achievements include...
The class of 2011 earned an all-time high in Math and Science on the Prairie State Exam the Illinois state test. Reading scores also improved over the previous 3 years. The percent of student who exceeded or met state standards is: Math 85.4%, Reading 83.2% and Science 86% (Science percentage is unofficially reported from raw scores).
LFHS also met AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) due to an increase in the scores of Special Education students who showed dramatic improvements in Math and some improvement in Reading .
AP testing records were shattered for the class of 2010 and 2011! Students sat for 951 tests, far more than the previous high of 798 tests (2005). A record 93% of the students got a passing score of 3, 4 or 5. This is up from 91% last year. A perfect score of 5 was earned on 44% of the tests! Scores for each test will be reviewed and celebrated in each department.
