Preliminary data reveals about 29.4 percent of students met or exceeded state expectation on the Prairie State Achievement Exam. That's up 1.5 percentage points over last year.
Scores were up in all subjects except for reading.
Additionally, the average ACT scores rose from 17 to 17.3 out of a possible 36.
"The climb in scores is testimony to hard work at the school level, the heavy lifting that goes on day in and day out by dedicated teachers under the leadership of their principals," said CPS chief Ron Huberman.
And there's more good news -- Illinois is now one of the 19 finalists seeking a cut of the approximately $3.4 billion in education grants.
