East Central Reporter

More than 7 in 10 Douglas 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, 73.8% of Douglas County's 233 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.

Arcola High School had the highest failure rates in Douglas County in the 2023-24 school year (88.7%). Meanwhile, Villa Grove High School had the lowest (67.5%).

Countywide, English test failure rates fell from 74.4% in the 2022-23 school year to 73.8% in the 2023-24 school year.

The failure rate rose in two Douglas County high schools in the 2023-24 school year, with the most significant increase happening at Arcola High School, where the failure rate rose by 5.8%, reaching 88.7% 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%.

Tuscola High School and Villa Grove High School were the Douglas County high schools to see 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
Arcola High School	53	82.9%	88.7%
Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond High School	72	70.4%	72.3%
Tuscola High School	71	69.5%	67.6%
Villa Grove High School	37	78.4%	67.5%