East Central Reporter

More than 5 in 10 Cumberland County public students aren't at grade level based on their performance in the English portion of the 2023 SAT.

That's according to a East Central Reporter analysis of test score data compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

ISBE reports that last year, 52.7% of Cumberland County's 630 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.

Neoga Elementary School (56.2%) had the highest failure rates in Cumberland County. Meanwhile, Cumberland Elementary School (46.2%) had the lowest.

Countywide, English test failure rates fell from 57.8% in 2021 to 52.7% in 2023.

Data shows that the highest failure rates growths were seen in Christian County (72.5%), Hancock County (73.8%), Cook County (74.1%), White County (74.1%), and Morgan County (76.7%).

Cumberland Elementary School was the only Cumberland County high school to see improvements between 2021 and 2023.

Statewide, 39.9% of Illinois students failed the 2023 state English exam, down from 64% 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 2021	Failing % in 2022	Failing % in 2023
Neoga Elementary School	96	59.3%	59.8%	56.2%
Neoga Junior/Senior High School	107	56.1%	67.1%	56.1%
Cumberland Middle School	284	57%	61.2%	53.5%
Cumberland Elementary School	143	59.4%	55.6%	46.2%