York High's Test Scores Up, Reversing Trend: District

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst School District 205 got information that it badly wanted: An increase in York High School students making the mark on standardized tests.

In the 2023-24 year, York students got some of their lowest SAT scores since the state started using the test in 2017.

At a school board meeting Tuesday night, the district released numbers showing improvement.

The twist is that the state required a different standardized test last year – the ACT. But the state provided benchmarks that it maintained showed equivalence between the tests.

For the English language arts part of the ACT, 79 percent of York's juniors met standards, up from 67 percent on the SAT a year earlier, according to the district's presentation.

For math, 67 percent of juniors made the standard, up from 60 percent a year earlier. In 2022-23, 65 percent were proficient.

Late next week, the state plans to release numbers for schools as well as statewide averages. That likely will give more context on Elmhurst's situation.

Over the last few years, Elmhurst has often breezed past the bad news that York High's test results have dropped.

Instead, it has put its focus on another fact: It's one of only a few school systems where average standardized test scores among elementary and middle schoolers are exceeding those in 2019