That's according to a Chambana Sun analysis of 2022 test score data compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).
ISBE reports that last year, 67.8 percent of Champaign County's 1,518 public high school students failed the Math portion of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and have “minimal (or) incomplete… understanding of the knowledge and skills relative to Illinois Learning Standards.”
Students can achieve four proficiencies in their subjects (partially met, approaching, meets, and exceeds standards). This report concludes students who partially met or approached the standards have failed in the subject.
Rantoul Township High School (94.6 percent), Urbana High School (79 percent), and Heritage High School (75 percent) had the highest failure rates in Champaign County. St. Joseph-Ogden High School (52.7 percent) and Mahomet-Seymour High School (45.6 percent) had the lowest.
Of 9 Champaign County high schools, only one school -- Mahomet-Seymour High School had passing rates of more than 50 percent.
County-wide, Math test failure rates rose from 65 percent in 2019 to 67.8 percent in 2022.
The failure rate increased at five Champaign County high schools in 2022, with the most significant increase happening at St. Joseph-Ogden High School (52.7 percent).
Failure rates rose the most in Coles County (82.7 percent), Mercer County (83.5 percent), Pope County (89.8 percent), Union County (91.3 percent), and Henderson County (92.2 percent).
Heritage High School and Unity High School were the only Champaign County high schools to see Math scores improve between 2019 and 2022.
Statewide, 70 percent of Illinois students failed the 2022 state Math exam, up from 64 percent in 2019.
The SAT test is administered to Illinois high school sophomores “to fulfill the requirement that students take an assessment for college and career readiness in order to receive a regular high school diploma.”
| High School | # of Students | Failing % in 2019 | Failing % in 2021 | Failing % in 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rantoul Township High School | 184 | 87.7% | 93.6% | 94.6% |
| Urbana High School | 220 | 79.4% | 77.3% | 79% |
| Heritage High School | 28 | 84.6% | 78.5% | 75% |
| Centennial High School | 285 | 65.4% | 73.2% | 69.1% |
| Unity High School | 109 | 73.1% | 57.5% | 68.8% |
| Fisher Junior/Senior High School | 48 | 69.8% | 56.7% | 68.8% |
| Central High School | 293 | 60.9% | 67% | 63.8% |
| St. Joseph-Ogden High School | 110 | 40% | 48.1% | 52.7% |
| Mahomet-Seymour High School | 241 | 35.2% | 46.4% | 45.6% |
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