Rantoul Township High School Principal Mr. Todd Wilson (2023) | Rantoul Township High School
Rantoul Township High School Principal Mr. Todd Wilson (2023) | Rantoul Township High School
That's according to a Chambana Sun analysis of 2023 test score data compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).
ISBE reports that last year, 66.2% of Champaign County's 1,037 public high school students — approximately 686 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 (93.6%) had the highest failure rates in Champaign County. Mahomet-Seymour High School (42.1%) had the lowest.
Out of the four high schools in Champaign County, only Mahomet-Seymour High School had a passing rate above 50%.
Countywide, math test failure rates fell from 83.3% in 2021 to 66.2% in 2023.
Rantoul Township High School was the only Champaign County high school to experience an increase in failure rates in 2023, reaching 93.6%.
Statewide, failure rates increased the most in Wayne County, Greene County, Sangamon County, Pike County, and Pulaski County, where the percentage of students who failed the math exam rose to 74.1%, 86.4%, 95.6%, 96.7%, and 100%, respectively.
Mahomet-Seymour High School and Central High School were the only Champaign County high schools to see math scores improve between 2021 and 2023.
Statewide, 75.6% of Illinois students failed the 2023 state math exam, up from 64% in 2021.
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 2021 | Failing % in 2022 | Failing % in 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rantoul Township High School | 172 | 80.2% | 82.6% | 93.6% |
| Centennial High School | 298 | 81.6% | 76.2% | 72.8% |
| Central High School | 353 | 87.1% | 88.2% | 61.8% |
| Mahomet-Seymour High School | 214 | 76.7% | 80.9% | 42.1% |
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