Both Riverside-Brookfield High School and Lyons Township High School scored high among Illinois high schools in the annual school report cards issued by the state of Illinois Board of Education.

RBHS ranked 26th in the percentage of students of meeting or exceeding state standards on the 2011 Prairie State Achievement Exam given to all juniors in the state according to the Chicago Tribune, while LTHS ranked 35th.

At RBHS, 76 percent of juniors met or exceeded state standards, an increase of 3.9 percent from last year. Meanwhile, at Lyons Township High School scores declined slightly with 73 percent of juniors meeting or exceeding state standards, a 1.8 percent dip from last year.

Despite their high rankings, however, neither RBHS nor LTHS made adequate yearly progress (AYP) under the provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind law (NCLB). Under NCLB, 85 percent of students had to meet or exceed to state standards to make adequate yearly progress in 2011.

RBHS failed to make AYP in reading and math. In reading 77.2 percent of RBHS juniors met or exceeded standards while 78.1 percent did so in math.

At LTHS 73.1 percent of students made the grade in reading and 72.8 percent did so in math.

Only eight high schools in Illinois – and only three high schools with open enrollment – made AYP this year based on their performance on the PSAE. The three open enrollment high schools that made AYP were Glenbrook North High School, Stevenson High School and small Dunlap High School located north of Peoria.

Despite not making adequate yearly progress, both local high schools scored well above state averages. Across the state only 50.5 percent of juniors met or exceeded state standards.

RBHS had an average ACT composite score of 23.3, while LTHS had an average ACT score of 24.1. The statewide average ACT composite score was 20.6. The ACT is a component of the Prairie State Achievement Exam.

The school report cards also provided a plethora of other information about the schools.

Hispanic enrollment at RBHS has steadily increased in the last few years, up from 10.8 percent in 2000. Hispanic students now make up 27.3 percent of the student body at RBHS; 64 percent of RBHS students are white and 4.7 percent are black.

At LTHS white students made up 77.1 percent of the student body in 2011, while 15.8 percent were Hispanic and 3.7 percent were black.

The annual School Report Card also reports financial data about schools.

According to the 2011 school report card, RBHS spent $16,893 per student to educate its students in the 2009-10 school year. The state average for similarly sized districts in Illinois was $13,911 for similarly sized districts, according to the state report card.

In addition, the average teacher at RBHS has 13.6 years of experience and makes $95,138 a year, with 83.9 percent of teachers at RBHS having a master’s degree or above.

While LTHS spent slightly less per student than at RBHS, teachers there were paid slightly more than teachers at Riverside-Brookfield despite having less experience and less education.

LTHS spent $15,913 per student in the 2009-10 school year, while the average teacher has 12.4 years of experience and makes an annual salary of $96,099. According to the report card, 80.9 percent of LTHS teachers have a master’s degree or above.