Peoria Standard

Nearly 6 in 10 Woodford 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 Peoria Standard of test scores compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

ISBE reports that in the 2023-24 school year, 59.5% of Woodford County's 523 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.

Fieldcrest High School (83.1%), Lowpoint-Washburn Junior Senior High School (69.3%) and Metamora High School (59.4%) had the highest failure rates in Woodford County in the 2023-24 school year. Meanwhile, El Paso-Gridley High School had the lowest (52.1%) and Eureka High School (50%).

Countywide, English test failure rates fell from 60% in the 2022-23 school year to 59.5% in the 2023-24 school year.

The failure rate rose in two Woodford County high schools in the 2023-24 school year, with the most significant increase happening at Fieldcrest High School, where the failure rate rose by 6%, reaching 83.1% 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%.

Lowpoint-Washburn Junior Senior High School, Roanoke-Benson High School, El Paso-Gridley High School, and Eureka High School were the Woodford 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
Fieldcrest High School	71	77.1%	83.1%
Lowpoint-Washburn Junior Senior High School	13	77.3%	69.3%
Metamora High School	202	54.2%	59.4%
Roanoke-Benson High School	37	64%	56.7%
El Paso-Gridley High School	92	61.3%	52.1%
Eureka High School	108	55.1%	50%