Despite dismal student performance on annual exams covering math and reading, high school graduation rates remain high across the region, according to a NW Illinois News analysis of 2016 data from the Illinois State Board of Education.
Of the 31 schools analyzed in Carroll, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson and Whiteside counties, Erie High School showed the greatest disparity. In a year when 99 percent of seniors graduated on time, just 9 percent of students actually passed annual tests that the state uses to determine who is "ready for the next level."
The end-of-year tests known as the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, are administered to third- through eighth-graders in Illinois, testing them based on Common Core standards. High schoolers also took the tests through 2016.
A composite score combines the results of the subject tests. Students whose scores either meet or exceed expectations are considered "ready for the next level."
Schools' graduation fraud index shows the difference between the composite passing rate and the graduation rate.
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Graduation fraud index
| NW Illinois high school | School district | City | Annual exam pass rate (%) | Graduation rate (%) | Graduation fraud index |
| Erie High School | Erie Cusd 1 | Erie | 9.4 | 98.5 | -89.1 |
| Paw Paw Junior Senior High School | Paw Paw Cusd 271 | Paw Paw | 11.3 | 94.7 | -83.4 |
| Sterling High School | Sterling Cusd 5 | Sterling | 9.5 | 88.9 | -79.4 |
| Prophetstown High School | Prophetstown-Lyndon-Tampico Cusd3 | Prophetstown | 13.4 | 92.6 | -79.2 |
| Fulton High School | River Bend Cusd 2 | Fulton | 15.9 | 92.2 | -76.3 |
| Stockton Sr High School | Stockton Cusd 206 | Stockton | 7 | 82.6 | -75.6 |
| Oregon High School | Oregon Cusd 220 | Oregon | 18.9 | 90.5 | -71.6 |
| West Carroll High School | West Carroll Cusd 314 | Savanna | 15 | 86.2 | -71.2 |
| Lena-Winslow High School | Lena Winslow Cusd 202 | Lena | 16.8 | 87.9 | -71.1 |
| Milledgeville High School | Chadwick-Milledgeville Cusd 399 | Milledgeville | 12.2 | 82.1 | -69.9 |
| Dixon High School | Dixon Usd 170 | Dixon | 12.1 | 79.6 | -67.5 |
| Morrison High School | Morrison Cusd 6 | Morrison | 21.3 | 88.3 | -67 |
| Rochelle Township High School | Rochelle Twp Hsd 212 | Rochelle | 24.9 | 91.7 | -66.8 |
| Pearl City High School | Pearl City Cusd 200 | Pearl City | 29.4 | 95 | -65.6 |
| Freeport High School | Freeport Sd 145 | Freeport | 15.1 | 78.6 | -63.5 |
| Amboy High School | Amboy Cusd 272 | Amboy | 21.8 | 84.2 | -62.4 |
| Orangeville High School | Orangeville Cusd 203 | Orangeville | 32.7 | 90.3 | -57.6 |
| Forreston Jr/Sr High School | Forrestville Valley Cusd 221 | Forreston | 37.7 | 94.2 | -56.5 |
| Warren Jr/Sr High School | Warren Cusd 205 | Warren | 33.2 | 89.3 | -56.1 |
| Polo Community High School | Polo Cusd 222 | Polo | 35.4 | 89.4 | -54 |
| Ashton Franklin Center High School | Ashton-Franklin Center Cusd 275 | Ashton | 30.9 | 83.7 | -52.8 |
| Dakota Jr Sr High School | Dakota Cusd 201 | Dakota | 42.4 | 94.7 | -52.3 |
| Rock Falls Township High School | Rock Falls Twp Hsd 301 | Rock Falls | 37.7 | 88 | -50.3 |
| Scales Mound High School | Scales Mound Cusd 211 | Scales Mound | 50 | 100 | -50 |
| East Dubuque High School | East Dubuque Usd 119 | East Dubuque | 42.2 | 91.1 | -48.9 |
| Byron High School 9-12 | Byron Cusd 226 | Byron | 46.1 | 91.6 | -45.5 |
| Eastland Jr/Sr High School | Eastland Cusd 308 | Lanark | 45.7 | 90.4 | -44.7 |
| River Ridge High School | River Ridge Cusd 210 | Hanover | 53.5 | 95.3 | -41.8 |
| Stillman Valley High School | Meridian Cusd 223 | Stillman Valley | 51.7 | 93.2 | -41.5 |
| Galena High School | Galena Usd 120 | Galena | 68.2 | 94.3 | -26.1 |
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