DeKalb Times

Nearly 9 in 10 DeKalb County public high school students aren't at grade level in math.

That's according to a DeKalb Times analysis of 2023 test score data compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

ISBE reports that last year, 86.4% of DeKalb County's 521 public high school students — approximately 450 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.

Out of the two DeKalb County schools, Dekalb High School (87.9%) had the highest failure rate in the county. Genoa-Kingston High School (80.2%) had the lowest.

Countywide, math test failure rates fell from 87.6% in 2021 to 86.4% in 2023.

Genoa-Kingston High School was the only DeKalb County high school to experience an increase in failure rates in 2023, reaching 80.2%.

Statewide, failure rates increased the most in Wayne County, Greene County, Sangamon County, Pike County, and Pulaski County, where the percentage of students who failed the math exam rose to 74.1%, 86.4%, 95.6%, 96.7%, and 100%, respectively.

Dekalb High School were the only DeKalb County high schools to see math scores improve between 2021 and 2023.

Statewide, 75.6% of Illinois students failed the 2023 state math exam, up from 64% in 2021.

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
Dekalb High School	415	91.8%	90.8%	87.9%
Genoa-Kingston High School	106	68.8%	78.6%	80.2%