Test scores on the Prairie State Achievement Exam for high school juniors reached an all-time low this year.

According to data released by the Illinois State Board of Education, Illinois students passed only 52.6 percent of the exam that includes math, science, reading and the ACT exam. This is the lowest pass rate since the test was implemented in 2001. These numbers declined from the 54.3 percent pass rate in 2006.

The biggest drop in all categories came in the reading section. Only 54 percent of students passed the reading portion, compared to the 58 percent last year.

Two years ago, the state of Illinois changed its graduation requirements for high schools for the first time in 20 years. Students now need more math, English and science credits to graduate.

Chris Koch, state superintendent of education, said the state needs to reevaluate their current plans to increase scores.

“We are going to have to look at what we are doing as a state and figure out why this is happening,” Koch said in a Chicago Tribune article.

Bob Burk, NIU director of admissions, said the university is not too concerned with the declining scores.

“None of us even look at the PSAE to determine college performance,” Burk said. “Colleges just use the ACT portion of the test, and these scores haven’t been changing.”

Burk said there is no way to relate the PSAE to college requirements.

“There is no measure to see what the PSAE tracks based on college performance,” he said.

State education officials want to ensure state high school standards are in line with what students should know when they arrive at college, Koch said.

“We need to look at the rigor and the relevance of our standards and we need to make sure that they stack up to a national comparison,” he said.

NIU has no plans of changing entrance requirements for freshmen due to the declining PSAE scores, Burk said.