Central High School Principal Mr. Marc Shaner (2023) | Central High School
Central High School Principal Mr. Marc Shaner (2023) | Central High School
That's according to an analysis from Kankakee Times of test scores compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).
ISBE reports that in the 2023-24 school year, 81.9% of Iroquois County's 276 public high school students—approximately 226 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.
Iroquois West High School (89.5%), Cissna Park Senior High School (88.9%), and Milford High School Campus (79.5%) had the highest failure rate in Iroquois County, and Central High School (77.8%) and Donovan Senior High School (76.5%) had the lowest.
No high school in Iroquois County had a student passing rate exceeding 50%.
Countywide, math test failure rates fell from 82.9% in the 2022-23 school year to 81.9% in the 2023-24 school year.
Failure rates increased at three Iroquois County high schools in the 2023-24 school year, with the most significant increase happening at Cissna Park Senior High School, where the rate jumped from 84% to 88.9%.
Statewide, failure rates were highest in Bureau County, Christian County, Gallatin County, Schuyler County, and Hamilton County, where the percentage of students who failed the math exam were 82.4%, 91.6%, 93.4%, 93.6%, and 95.2%, respectively.
Donovan Senior High School and Iroquois West High School were the only Iroquois County high schools that saw math scores improve between the 2022-23 school year and the 2023-24 school year.
Data shows that 73.7% of Illinois students failed the 2023-24 school year state math exam, up from 73% 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 | Failure Rate in 2023-24 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iroquois West High School | 76 | 91.7% | 89.5% |
| Cissna Park Senior High School | 18 | 84% | 88.9% |
| Milford High School Campus | 39 | 78.3% | 79.5% |
| Watseka Community High School | 63 | 77% | 77.8% |
| Central High School | 63 | 80.2% | 77.8% |
| Donovan Senior High School | 17 | 82.6% | 76.5% |
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