ACT scores for last year’s senior class rose a bit at Riverside-Brookfield High School last year and dipped ever so slightly at Lyons Township High School. Scores at both schools remained well above the state average.

At RBHS the class of 2012 posted an average composite score of 23.6, an increase from the 23.3 score achieved by the class of 2011. At LTHS, the class of 2012 posted an average composite score of 24.0, down just one-tenth of a point from the school’s all time high score of 24.1, achieved by the class of 2011.

In 2012 the Illinois state average ACT score was 20.9, the same as last year. The national average ACT composite score is 21.1, but most states do not require all high school juniors to take the ACT as Illinois does.

Top administrators at both local high schools lauded the scores achieved by the class of 2012

“I am proud to see the composite ACT score increase by 0.3 percent to 23.6,” said Riverside-Brookfield High School District 208 Superintendent Kevin Skinkis in a press release announcing the scores. “I am even more excited to see the number of students that scored 21 or better. To have 75 percent of the graduating class score 21 or better on the ACT is great news.”

LTHS Superintendent Timothy Kilrea also was proud of his students’ scores.

“High expectations and rigorous standards across the entire curriculum continue to prepare LT students for college and beyond,” Kilrea said in a press release. “Our students and staff should be proud of their efforts and their continued level of success.”

The LTHS class of 2012 scored a school record high score on the science section of the exam, posting an average of 23.6, edging past the class of 2011’s average science score of 23.5.

However, the ACT sets the college readiness level for a freshmen biology class at a score of 24 on the science portion of the ACT Exam, a score that many educators think is too high.

“The college readiness standards are based on ACT’s perception,” Skinkis said. “You have to get a 24 on the science, that’s a little crazy. A lot of people have related it to a 21 composite as college and career ready.”

At RBHS, 47 percent of the class of 2012 achieved a science score of 24 or higher.

The ACT defines college readiness as a score that gives students a fair to good chance of getting a B or C in college freshmen classes. In English, the college readiness score is 18, while in algebra it is a score of 22. In social sciences, college readiness is defined by the ACT as a score of 21 on the reading portion of the ACT exam.

Forty-one percent of the class of 2012 at RBHS exceeded the ACT college readiness standards in all four subjects, Skinkis said in an interview that 85 percent of the RBHS class of 2012 met or exceeded the ACT college readiness standard in English, 68 percent in social sciences, 66 percent in math and 47 percent in science.

At LTHS, 47 percent of the class of 2012 met the ACT’s college readiness standards in all four subject areas. Eight-two percent of LTHS’ graduating seniors met the standard in English, 68 percent in algebra, 67 percent in social sciences and 53 percent in biology.

In Illinois as a whole, only 25 percent of the class of 2012 met the ACT college readiness standards in all four subject areas.