How many students failed their English exams in Clark County in 2023-24 school year?

Jason Helfer Chief Education Officer - Instruction | Twitter

By East Central Reporter Reports

Dec 16, 2024

Nearly 8 in 10 Clark County public students aren't at grade level based on their performance in the English portion of the 2023-24 SAT.

That's according to an analysis from East Central Reporter of test scores compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

ISBE reports that in the 2023-24 school year, 75.2% of Clark County's 157 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.

Of three Clark County schools, Casey-Westfield Junior/Senior High School (89.3%) had the highest failure rate in the county. Meanwhile, Marshall High School (64.4%) had the lowest.

Countywide, English test failure rates fell from 75.2% in the 2022-23 school year to 75.2% in the 2023-24 school year.

The failure rate increased at one Clark County high school in the 2023-24 school year, with the most significant increase happening at Casey-Westfield Junior/Senior High School, where the failure rate increased by 22%, reaching 89.3% 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%.

Martinsville Junior-Senior High School and Marshall High School were the only high schools in the county 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."

ELA Failure Rates in Clark County High Schools in the 2023-24 School Year