Dr. Donna Larson Principal | Official website
Dr. Donna Larson Principal | Official website
That's according to an analysis from DeKalb Times of test scores compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).
ISBE reports that in the 2023-24 school year, 80.9% of DeKalb County's 1,230 public high school students—approximately 995 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.
Hiawatha Junior/Senior High School (92%), Genoa-Kingston High School (86.5%), and Indian Creek High School (86.2%) had the highest failure rate in DeKalb County, and Sycamore High School (72.5%) and Somonauk High School (61.1%) had the lowest.
No high school in DeKalb County had a student passing rate exceeding 50%.
Countywide, math test failure rates rose from 80.6% in the 2022-23 school year to 80.9% in the 2023-24 school year.
Failure rates increased at four DeKalb County high schools in the 2023-24 school year, with the most significant increase happening at Indian Creek High School, where the rate jumped from 80.6% to 86.2%.
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.
Somonauk High School and Dekalb High School were the only DeKalb 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hiawatha Junior/Senior High School | 25 | 87.5% | 92% |
| Genoa-Kingston High School | 126 | 80.2% | 86.5% |
| Indian Creek High School | 58 | 80.6% | 86.2% |
| Dekalb High School | 502 | 87.9% | 85.2% |
| Sandwich Community High School | 139 | 83.3% | 82% |
| Hinckley-Big Rock High School | 46 | 78.9% | 76.1% |
| Sycamore High School | 280 | 70.4% | 72.5% |
| Somonauk High School | 54 | 71.4% | 61.1% |
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