That's according to a NW Illinois News analysis of 2022 test score data compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).
ISBE reports that last year, 80.8 percent of Whiteside County's 552 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.
Morrison High School (84 percent), Prophetstown High School (82.9 percent), and Sterling High School (82.3 percent) had the highest failure rates in Whiteside County. Fulton High School (74.2 percent) and Erie High School (70.6 percent) had the lowest.
No Whiteside County high schools had a passing rate of more than 50 percent of students.
County-wide, Math test failure rates rose from 75.8 percent in 2019 to 80.8 percent in 2022.
The failure rate increased at four Whiteside County high schools in 2022, with the most significant increase happening at Morrison High School (84 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).
Fulton High School and Rock Falls Township High School were the only Whiteside 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morrison High School | 69 | 62.7% | 76% | 84% |
| Prophetstown High School | 41 | 82.2% | 88.1% | 82.9% |
| Sterling High School | 215 | 72.2% | 79% | 82.3% |
| Rock Falls Township High School | 131 | 86.1% | 78.5% | 81.7% |
| Fulton High School | 62 | 82.8% | 69.1% | 74.2% |
| Erie High School | 34 | 56.8% | 69.5% | 70.6% |
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