Copyright Joliet, IL Patch
York High School was first among demographically similar schools on the science section of the ACT, the standardized test for juniors. ELMHURST, IL – In recent years, Elmhurst School District 205 has largely shied away from comparing its test scores to demographically similar schools. It now prefers comparing to national averages. In that arena, Elmhurst will always do quite well, given that it is among the state's wealthiest towns. As it happens, York High School students more than held their own last year against area districts that were once frequently included on Elmhurst's comparison list. The state released the latest round of statistics Thursday. Last school year, the state replaced the SAT with the ACT as its main standardized test for juniors. As a result, it's hard to compare apples to apples with last year's scores. Last week, the district said equivalent benchmarks showed progress for York students, reversing a trend of recent years. Until a few years ago, the district often compared its academic performance with seven other districts that also serve all grades. They are Barrington District 2020, Batavia District 101, Geneva District 304, Indian Prairie District 204, Naperville District 203, St. Charles District 303 and Wheaton District 200. On the ACT's English language arts section, 80 percent of York High's juniors met the state benchmark. That was tops among the seven other districts, which ranged from 69 percent to 78 percent. York finished third on the ACT's science section, with 77 percent making the mark. Ahead of Elmhurst were Geneva (78 percent) and Naperville (79 percent). In math, York was fourth, with 68 percent meeting the standard. Ahead of York were Indian Prairie (69 percent), Naperville (72 percent) and Geneva (80 percent). Demographics may have an effect even within this small group of similar districts. Geneva's low-income rate among students is 5 percent, considerably lower than the others. (York's, for instance, is 18 percent.) Geneva beat Elmhurst in two categories.
