That's according to a Will County Gazette analysis of 2022 test score data compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).
ISBE reports that last year, 68.1 percent of Will County's 7,951 public high school 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.
Crete-Monee High School (89.9 percent), Joliet Central High School (87.6 percent), and Beecher High School (86.9 percent) had the highest failure rates in Will County. Lincoln Way West (44.4 percent) and Lincoln-Way East High School (40.9 percent) had the lowest.
Of 17 Will County high schools, only three schools -- Lincoln-Way Central High School, Lincoln Way West, and Lincoln-Way East High School had passing rates of more than 50 percent.
County-wide, Math test failure rates rose from 62.6 percent in 2019 to 68.1 percent in 2022.
The failure rate increased at 15 Will County high schools in 2022, with the most significant increase happening at Plainfield South High School (77.4 percent).
Failure rates rose the most in Coles County (82.7 percent), Mercer County (83.5 percent), Pope County (89.8 percent), Union County (91.3 percent), and Henderson County (92.2 percent).
Peotone High School and Lincoln-Way East High School were the only Will County high schools to see Math scores improve between 2019 and 2022.
Statewide, 70 percent of Illinois students failed the 2022 state Math exam, up from 64 percent 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 2019 | Failing % in 2021 | Failing % in 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crete-Monee High School | 334 | 87% | 91.4% | 89.9% |
| Joliet Central High School | 706 | 83.8% | 89.3% | 87.6% |
| Beecher High School | 84 | 79.3% | 82% | 86.9% |
| Wilmington High School | 95 | 76.8% | 77.9% | 82.1% |
| Joliet West High School | 813 | 76.1% | 80.6% | 82% |
| Plainfield South High School | 539 | 65.3% | 77.6% | 77.4% |
| Reed-Custer High School | 120 | 71.7% | 85.3% | 76.6% |
| Bolingbrook High School | 710 | 66.4% | 74.7% | 74.5% |
| Peotone High School | 108 | 75% | 75.8% | 74.1% |
| Plainfield High School | 489 | 62.4% | 74.3% | 70.6% |
| Romeoville High School | 425 | 66.9% | 78.8% | 70.4% |
| Lockport Township High School East | 946 | 60% | 65% | 65.5% |
| Plainfield East High School | 483 | 56.1% | 62.9% | 63.4% |
| Plainfield North High School | 575 | 46% | 57.8% | 57.4% |
| Lincoln-Way Central High School | 444 | 43.9% | 54.4% | 46.2% |
| Lincoln Way West | 435 | 42.2% | 60.1% | 44.4% |
| Lincoln-Way East High School | 645 | 42% | 53% | 40.9% |
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