Peoria Standard

More than 5 in 10 Fulton 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 Peoria Standard analysis of test score data compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

ISBE reports that last year, 50.9% of Fulton County's 1,893 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.

Spoon River Valley Junior High School (66.6%), Central Elementary School (59.8%) and Cuba Middle School (57.7%) had the highest failure rates in Fulton County. Meanwhile, Abingdon-Avon Middle School (35%) and Spoon River Valley Elementary School (32.6%) had the lowest.

Of 15 Fulton County high schools, six, including VIT Elementary School, Westview Elementary School, and Cuba Elementary School had passing rates of more than 50%.

Countywide, English test failure rates fell from 55.6% in 2021 to 50.9% in 2023.

The failure rate rose in five Fulton County high schools in 2023, with the most significant increase happening at Spoon River Valley Junior High School (66.6%).

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%).

Lincoln Elementary School, Eastview Elementary School, Astoria Elementary School, VIT Elementary School, and Abingdon-Avon Middle School were the Fulton County high schools 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
Spoon River Valley Junior High School	51	60.8%	60.8%	66.6%
Central Elementary School	154	56.7%	55.3%	59.8%
Cuba Middle School	85	51.2%	58.2%	57.7%
VIT Junior High School	71	57.1%	68.2%	54.9%
Ingersoll Middle School	619	54.5%	54.1%	54.8%
Lincoln Elementary School	86	66.7%	63.7%	53.5%
Astoria Junior High School	68	54.8%	55.8%	52.9%
Eastview Elementary School	108	57.4%	55.3%	52.7%
Astoria Elementary School	41	52.7%	52.2%	51.3%
VIT Elementary School	83	63.9%	58.1%	48.2%
Westview Elementary School	122	53.9%	43%	46.8%
Cuba Elementary School	67	48.7%	41.9%	44.8%
Lewistown Junior/Senior High School	95	55.6%	55.8%	41.1%
Abingdon-Avon Middle School	197	56.8%	53.4%	35%
Spoon River Valley Elementary School	46	47.2%	65.2%	32.6%