The words amazing, confident and talented described the work of more than 2,000 Lincoln Public Schools graduating seniors in 2025 who took the ACT college preparation exam during their careers.

LPS learned this fall that members of the Class of 2025 produced a composite ACT score of 19.7. The number was the best LPS mark in the past four years and was 0.4 points higher than last year’s score. LPS students finished above state (19.2) and national (19.4) averages on the test, and the school district saw improvement in each of the four subtests of English, math, reading and science.

LPS administrators Sarah Salem, Takako Olson and Jess Fries said they were excited about the test results. Salem is the LPS associate superintendent for teaching and learning, Olson is the LPS director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, and Fries is director of secondary education for the school district.

“Overall, we couldn’t be more thrilled to see continued progress over the last four years,” Salem said. “These being the highest composite scores really gives us tremendous pride in the teaching and learning that’s happening in our buildings.”

All three LPS leaders praised the work of staff members across the school district. They said the efforts at all schools have translated into excellent ACT results.

“We have a phenomenal staff, not just teachers, but everybody that supports students,” Salem said. “When you think about how many different staff members it takes to support children, whether that’s from a counselor, a social worker, a para, it takes an entire school to have these kinds of results.”

Some of the ACT highlights include:

The subtest scores in both reading (20.5) and math (19.6) are the top LPS marks in the past four years. Reading scores soared from 19.8 the previous year, while math enjoyed a gain from 19.2 the previous year.
English and science subject areas also saw improvement. English scores increased from 18.1 last year to 18.4 this year, while science results went from 19.6 to 19.7.
All 2,801 members of the Class of 2025 took the ACT at least once as sophomores, juniors or seniors. This compares to only 36 percent of students nationwide, which makes the higher LPS scores even more significant.
The previous three years of ACT scores for LPS students were 19.5, 19.5 and 19.3. All of those numbers were higher than the state averages in those years.

Fries and Salem said school improvement teams have been one reason for the increased ACT scores. Groups of teachers at each school analyze data from various educational sources throughout the year. They then use that information to produce plans that help students become better learners in their classrooms.

“Our principals have invited teachers to the table in their school improvement teams to really look at their schoolwide data,” Fries said. “What are the things that they want to focus on and what are the research-based instructional practices that they as a team want to incorporate as a building? Everybody has their own action plan. Some strategies are similar, and some are different based on the needs of the students that they serve.”

“This is the graduating class of 2025, but that demonstrates work that’s been happening K-12 in that student’s educational journey,” Salem said. “When our elementary teachers are looking at reading assessments and our EL (English Learners) teachers are looking at language proficiency, all of those things have a cumulative effect over a student’s career.”

Olson said the school district’s Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) initiative has also reaped ACT benefits. The philosophy teaches students important skills such as strategies for reading comprehension, taking tests and organizing their learning. All of these elements come into play on exams such as the ACT.

“Whether they are taking AVID classes as a course or not, AVID teaching has been embedded into all of the curricular areas,” Olson said. “Our curriculum specialists have been using their skills and knowledge to work with our teachers so they can use that with their students. It’s very much trickling down to teaching and learning in their classrooms. That’s very important, I think, for us to say that, because it happens in all of the areas.”

The 2024-29 LPS Strategic Plan is also paying dividends. One of the plan’s goals is increasing student enrollment in differentiated, honors and Advanced Placement (AP) courses. For example, 875 LPS students took AP exams in the 2013-14 academic year. Those numbers rose to 1,572 in the 2020-21 school year and 2,182 in 2023-24. In addition, there were 568 students who earned AP Scholar, AP Scholar with Honor, AP Scholar with Distinction, AP Capstone Diploma and AP Seminar and Research Certificate awards this past spring.

“We know that students who take diff, honors, AP, are going to have another level of preparation for exams like the ACT,” Salem said. “We’ve made a lot of progress in the number of students who have taken honors and diff courses in the last few years.”

Salem said the latest ACT scores are only one reason why LPS students are amazing, confident and talented in all of their academics and activities.

“It’s obvious that the ACT is a test score, but there are so many things that our students are skilled in that are not measured on the ACT,” Salem said. “I do think that’s why teachers go into education. It’s not for a test score, but to see all of the incredible things our students do outside the classroom and above and beyond what a test score points out.

“That doesn’t change the fact that we’re very, very proud to see continued results, because that is what we’re here for. It’s to make sure every student is prepared, and that if they choose to go to college and want to go to college, that we’ve done our job to prepare them for that.”

ACT graduating class (5-year history)

National results

School Year	Number	English	Math	Reading	Science	Composite
2020-2021	1,295,349	19.6	19.9	20.9	20.4	20.3
2021-2022	1,349,644	19.0	19.3	20.4	19.9	19.8
2022-2023	1,386,335	18.6	19.0	20.1	19.6	19.5
2023-2024	1,374,791	18.6	19.0	20.1	19.6	19.4
2024-2025	1,380,130	18.6	18.9	20.0	19.6	19.4

State results

School Year	Number	English	Math	Reading	Science	Composite
2020-2021	21,627	19.1	19.6	20.7	20.2	20.0
2021-2022	24,370	18.6	19.1	19.8	19.6	19.4
2022-2023	24,565	18.3	18.9	19.5	19.4	19.2
2023-2024	24,581	18.1	18.8	19.5	19.4	19.1
2024-2025	24,160	18.2	18.9	19.6	19.4	19.2

LPS results

School Year	Number	English	Math	Reading	Science	Composite
2020-2021	2,395	19.3	20.1	21.6	20.8	20.6
2021-2022	2,780	18.4	19.3	20.1	19.5	19.5
2022-2023	2,813	18.4	19.5	20.0	19.6	19.5
2023-2024	2,769	18.1	19.2	19.8	19.6	19.3
2024-2025	2,801	18.4	19.6	20.5	19.7	19.7

Do you have a story idea? Share it with the LPS Communications Team by filling out this form!

LPS Class of 2025 tops state, national ACT averages