Despite dismal student performance on annual exams covering math and reading, high school graduation rates remain high across the region, according to a Kankakee Times analysis of 2016 data from the Illinois State Board of Education.
Of the 13 schools analyzed in Kankakee and Iroquois counties, Iroquois West High School showed the greatest disparity. In a year when 93 percent of seniors graduated on time, just 11 percent of students actually passed annual tests that the state uses to determine who is "ready for the next level."
The end-of-year tests known as the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, are administered to third- through eighth-graders in Illinois, testing them based on Common Core standards. High-schoolers also took the tests through 2016.
A composite score combines the results of the subject tests. Students whose scores either meet or exceed expectations are considered "ready for the next level."
Schools' graduation fraud index shows the difference between the composite passing rate and the graduation rate.
--
Kankakee-area schools graduation fraud index
| Kankakee-area high school | School district | City | Annual exam pass rate (%) | Graduation rate (%) | Graduation fraud index |
| Iroquois West High School | Iroquois West Cusd 10 | Gilman | 11 | 93.4 | -82.4 |
| Momence High School | Momence Cusd 1 | Momence | 5.9 | 88.2 | -82.3 |
| Bradley-Bourbonnais C High School | Bradley Bourbonnais Chsd 307 | Bradley | 22.6 | 91.3 | -68.7 |
| Kankakee High School | Kankakee Sd 111 | Kankakee | 7.8 | 73.3 | -65.5 |
| Milford High School Campus | Milford Area Public Schools District 124 | Milford | 32.3 | 93.2 | -60.9 |
| Herscher High School | Herscher Cusd 2 | Herscher | 29.9 | 88.5 | -58.6 |
| St. Anne Comm High School | St Anne Chsd 302 | Saint Anne | 22.1 | 77.1 | -55 |
| Cissna Park Sr High School | Cissna Park Cusd 6 | Cissna Park | 42.6 | 96.8 | -54.2 |
| Manteno High School | Manteno Cusd 5 | Manteno | 34.9 | 88.5 | -53.6 |
| Grant Park High School | Grant Park Cusd 6 | Grant Park | 40.3 | 90.9 | -50.6 |
| Watseka Community High School | Iroquois County Cusd 9 | Watseka | 36.5 | 87.1 | -50.6 |
| Central High School | Central Cusd 4 | Clifton | 45.8 | 87.7 | -41.9 |
| Donovan Community Unit School District 3 | Donovan Cusd 3 | Donovan | 56.5 | 82.8 | -26.3 |
Alerts Sign-up