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, 68.3 percent of Champaign County's 1,520 public high school students failed the English language arts 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 (89.1 percent), Heritage High School (75 percent) and Urbana High School (73.3 percent) had the highest failure rates in Champaign County. Central High School (62.9 percent) and Mahomet-Seymour High School (49.8 percent) had the lowest.
Of nine Champaign County high schools, only one -- Mahomet-Seymour High School had passing rates of more than 50 percent.
County-wide, English test failure rates rose from 63.4 percent in 2019 to 68.3 percent in 2022.
The failure rate increased at eight Champaign County high schools in 2022, with the most significant increase happening at Unity High School (65.1 percent).
Failure rates rose the most at Cook County (100 percent), Marion County (100 percent), Peoria County (100 percent), Scott County (100 percent), Tazewell County (100 percent).
Statewide, 69.1 percent of Illinois students failed the 2022 state English 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 | 86.6% | 86% | 89.1% |
| Heritage High School | 28 | 77% | 67.9% | 75% |
| Urbana High School | 221 | 71.1% | 68.9% | 73.3% |
| Centennial High School | 285 | 64.4% | 72.5% | 72.3% |
| Fisher Junior/Senior High School | 48 | 72.1% | 64.8% | 70.8% |
| St. Joseph-Ogden High School | 110 | 42.7% | 58.7% | 68.1% |
| Unity High School | 109 | 68.6% | 55% | 65.1% |
| Central High School | 294 | 59.3% | 61.5% | 62.9% |
| Mahomet-Seymour High School | 241 | 41.4% | 49.6% | 49.8% |
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