Steven Isoye State Board of Education Chairperson | linkedin.com
Steven Isoye State Board of Education Chairperson | linkedin.com
That's according to an analysis from Chambana Sun of test scores compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).
ISBE reports that in the 2023-24 school year, 67.8% of Champaign County's 1,717 public high school students failed the ELA 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 (90.3%), Heritage High School (80.5%) and Urbana High School (77.4%) had the highest failure rates in Champaign County in the 2023-24 school year. Meanwhile, Mahomet-Seymour High School (50.4%) and University of Illinois High School (3.4%) had the lowest.
Countywide, English test failure rates rose from 62.6% in the 2022-23 school year to 67.8% in the 2023-24 school year.
The failure rate rose in 10 Champaign County high schools in the 2023-24 school year, with the most significant increase happening at Heritage High School, where the failure rate rose by 18.9%, reaching 80.5% overall.
Data shows that the largest growth in failure rates occurred in Vermilion County, which increased by 20.8% to 89.7%; Clark County, which grew by 22% to 89.3%; Kendall County, which increased by 24.1% to 89.4%; Fayette County, which grew by 24.6% to 91.2%; and Shelby County, which increased by 27.3% to 92.3%.
No high schools in the county saw improvements between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years.
Statewide, 67.7% of Illinois students failed the 2023-24 school year state English exam, down from 68.4% in the 2022-23 school year.
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 | Student Count | Failure Rate in 2022-23 School Year | Failure Rate in 2023-24 School Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rantoul Township High School | 176 | 88.3% | 90.3% |
| Heritage High School | 41 | 61.6% | 80.5% |
| Urbana High School | 239 | 73% | 77.4% |
| Centennial High School | 338 | 73.1% | 76.3% |
| Central High School | 324 | 59.2% | 67% |
| St. Joseph-Ogden High School | 108 | 49.5% | 65.7% |
| Fisher Junior/Senior High School | 52 | 57.8% | 63.4% |
| Unity High School | 120 | 59.5% | 62.5% |
| Mahomet-Seymour High School | 260 | 46.7% | 50.4% |
| University of Illinois High School | 59 | 0% | 3.4% |
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