Sarah Hasken Principal at Freeport High School | Official Website
Sarah Hasken Principal at Freeport High School | Official Website
That's according to an analysis from NW Illinois News of test scores compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).
ISBE reports that in the 2023-24 school year, 81.9% of Stephenson County's 443 public high school students—approximately 362 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.
Freeport High School (96.1%) and Orangeville High School (75.8%) had the highest failure rate in Stephenson County, and Dakota Junior Senior High School (61.3%) and Pearl City High School (52.3%) had the lowest.
No high school in Stephenson County had a student passing rate exceeding 50%.
Countywide, math test failure rates fell from 82.7% in the 2022-23 school year to 81.9% in the 2023-24 school year.
Failure rates increased at two Stephenson County high schools in the 2023-24 school year, with the most significant increase happening at Lena-Winslow High School, where the rate jumped from 57.9% to 67.9%.
Statewide, failure rates were highest in Bureau County, Christian County, Gallatin County, Schuyler County, and Hamilton County, where the percentage of students who failed the math exam were 82.4%, 91.6%, 93.4%, 93.6%, and 95.2%, respectively.
Pearl City High School and Dakota Junior Senior High School were the only Stephenson County high schools that saw math scores improve between the 2022-23 school year and the 2023-24 school year.
Data shows that 73.7% of Illinois students failed the 2023-24 school year state math exam, up from 73% 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 | Failure Rate in 2023-24 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freeport High School | 252 | 92.1% | 96.1% |
| Orangeville High School | 29 | 84.2% | 75.8% |
| Lena-Winslow High School | 56 | 57.9% | 67.9% |
| Dakota Junior Senior High School | 62 | 73.5% | 61.3% |
| Pearl City High School | 44 | 70.3% | 52.3% |
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