Statistics show the A-C-T scores of students from Iowa’s small high schoolslag behind their peers in bigger schools. Data from 1998 and ’99 shows students from Iowa’s larger high schools had better composite scores. Iowa Department of Education director Ted Stilwell says there are a couple of reasons.Stilwell says the A-C-T tests a broad range of subject matter, and students in some small high schools aren’t able to take the advanced science and math courses offered in larger schools.Stilwell says the answer may lie in regional academies, which offer advanced courses to high schoolers from small towns.In 1999, the composite A-C-T score for students in high schools which had fewer than 250 students was 19-point-four. The score for students in high schools with over 25-hundred students was significantly higher at 22-point-six.